Valley National Advisers Inc. Purchases 25,843 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Valley National Advisers Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 124.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 46,553 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,843 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,906,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 53,865,466 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,263,991,000 after purchasing an additional 4,636,183 shares in the last quarter. DLD Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $2,889,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $2,858,570,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 27,032,601 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,139,901,000 after buying an additional 5,135,748 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 25,013,697 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,980,084,000 after buying an additional 567,900 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Berenberg Bank lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $100.00 to $90.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 17th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $106.90 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $87.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $107.05. The firm has a market cap of $265.33 billion, a PE ratio of 14.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.29.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.