Mirador Capital Partners LP Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mirador Capital Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,154 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 243 shares during the quarter. Mirador Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $612,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,207,000. Sienna Gestion grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the second quarter. Sienna Gestion now owns 55,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,811,000 after purchasing an additional 511 shares during the last quarter. Miramar Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the second quarter. Miramar Capital LLC now owns 78,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,693,000 after purchasing an additional 844 shares in the last quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 7,893 shares of the company’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mittelman Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mittelman Wealth Management now owns 5,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $698,000 after purchasing an additional 2,066 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $100.72 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day moving average of $100.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.12. The company has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a PE ratio of 21.12, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.22%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.