Manning & Napier Advisors LLC Has $15.67 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Manning & Napier Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 27.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 186,754 shares of the company’s stock after selling 71,367 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,674,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. WealthPLAN Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC now owns 9,807 shares of the company’s stock worth $823,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares during the last quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. WealthPlan Investment Management LLC now owns 14,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,181,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.0% in the third quarter. Hoxton Planning & Management LLC now owns 3,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares in the last quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 113.4% during the third quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 17,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,482,000 after purchasing an additional 9,382 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the third quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 5,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. Berenberg Bank cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $108.20 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market capitalization of $268.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $112.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $100.62 and a 200-day moving average of $89.53.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.