Godsey & Gibb Inc. Acquires 9,571 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Godsey & Gibb Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 186,004 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,571 shares during the period. Godsey & Gibb Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $18,504,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Cliftonlarsonallen Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 26,835 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,670,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares in the last quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 40.8% in the fourth quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 15,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 4,633 shares in the last quarter. Apella Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the fourth quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 9,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $942,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the last quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Meyer Handelman Co. now owns 363,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,194,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Grove Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $327,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim dropped their price target on 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. Hsbc Global Res raised 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 set a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $100.20 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $253.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $100.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $110.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.23%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. 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.