City Holding Co. Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

City Holding Co. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,360 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 635 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,324,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

MRK opened at $98.00 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $100.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.