Oak Harvest Investment Services Purchases 24,325 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 41.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 83,247 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 24,325 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,987,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the third quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 3,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 3,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Investors Research Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 9,325 shares of the company’s stock worth $783,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 14,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Bankshares Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 6,169 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 18th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.3%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $106.47 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $107.59. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market cap of $264.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. Equities analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 44.91%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.