Rede Wealth LLC Acquires New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Rede Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,269 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $447,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the second quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,263,991,000 after buying an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after acquiring an additional 5,135,748 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,013,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,084,000 after acquiring an additional 567,900 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $106.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $107.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $265.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.29. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $87.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.