Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Lifted by Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 576,144 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 798 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 2.1% of Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $65,427,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the third quarter. Abner Herrman & Brock LLC now owns 135,210 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,354,000 after purchasing an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 534,583 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,707,000 after buying an additional 12,094 shares during the last quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.8% in the 3rd quarter. West Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,348 shares of the company’s stock valued at $153,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 221,819 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,190,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the 3rd quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 17,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $110.28 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $279.32 billion, a PE ratio of 122.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $114.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $123.45.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.79%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.