Whittier Trust Co. Has $57.54 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

by · The Markets Daily

Whittier Trust Co. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 506,684 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,734 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.8% of Whittier Trust Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $57,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.4% in the first quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 68,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,990,000 after purchasing an additional 4,694 shares in the last quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Fort Pitt Capital Group LLC now owns 571,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,390,000 after acquiring an additional 11,093 shares during the period. Single Point Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $201,000. City Holding Co. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.8% during the first quarter. City Holding Co. now owns 18,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,378,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Anderson Hoagland & Co. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $218,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded down $1.95 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $106.75. The stock had a trading volume of 5,515,430 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,753,557. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $270.38 billion, a PE ratio of 120.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.80 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $122.34.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.89%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

View Our Latest Analysis on Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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