Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 640.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 99,717 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 86,247 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 2.3% of Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Hunter Perkins Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,925,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 118,562,086 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,766,428,000 after acquiring an additional 2,174,829 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196,914 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 41,850,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,643,267,000 after acquiring an additional 4,000,816 shares during the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 103,159.7% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,327,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,363,385,000 after acquiring an additional 39,289,404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 31,951,714 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,289,429,000 after acquiring an additional 1,246,705 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 4.6 %

NYSE:MRK traded up $5.78 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $131.30. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,213,133 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,647,058. The stock has a market capitalization of $332.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 938.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $124.07 and a 200-day moving average of $112.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.58 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. TheStreet cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Societe Generale cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.