Quest Partners LLC Has $1.18 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Quest Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 41.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,397 shares of the company’s stock after selling 7,272 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,181,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the period. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $96.54 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $108.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $118.39. The company has a market cap of $244.20 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.36%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

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.