Lcnb Corp Has $2.58 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lcnb Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 44.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,730 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,877 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 0.9% of Lcnb Corp’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest position. Lcnb Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,579,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. American Assets Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $398,000. F M Investments LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% in the 4th quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,805,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 14,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after buying an additional 3,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 29,390 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,924,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $80.73 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.74 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.03. The company has a market capitalization of $201.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.