Rockland Trust Co. Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Rockland Trust Co. trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 386,449 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,917 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 2.2% of Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Rockland Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $43,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Capital International Investors raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 157,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,181,000 after buying an additional 4,069 shares during the last quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Baldwin Investment Management LLC now owns 7,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $776,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 140.1% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 14,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 8,467 shares during the last quarter. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC now owns 375,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,884,000 after buying an additional 93,941 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $110.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $278.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 122.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $123.74.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.