Bar Harbor Wealth Management Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Bar Harbor Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 160,410 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,147 shares during the period. Bar Harbor Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,463,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Little House Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 25,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,998,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.3% in the second quarter. Caxton Associates LLP now owns 39,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,000 after buying an additional 7,458 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the second quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 888,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $70,327,000 after buying an additional 79,529 shares in the last quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 117.4% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,165 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 3,329 shares during the period. Finally, Diversified Trust Co lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 189,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,013,000 after buying an additional 6,930 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a report on Monday, November 24th. BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, October 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.4%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $106.51 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a current ratio of 1.66. The stock has a market cap of $264.35 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $94.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.75. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $106.95.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a 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 currently 44.91%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.