Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Holdings Raised by JB Capital LLC

JB Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 127,915 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 13,151 shares during the quarter. JB Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 3,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the third quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 3,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 9,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Trust Point Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 14,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Bankshares Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 6,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 17th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $106.07 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $107.59. The company has a market cap of $263.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.01, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $96.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.52.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 44.91%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.