Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. Has $471,000 Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 730 shares during the quarter. Bourne Lent Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $471,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,204,000 after acquiring an additional 34,715 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $95.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $242.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $99.91 and a 200-day moving average of $109.20. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.