Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,940,532 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,318,900 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.43% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $897,671,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Bromfield Sneider Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $79,000. Hikari Power Ltd increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Hikari Power Ltd now owns 23,630 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,130 shares during the last quarter. ACG Wealth increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. ACG Wealth now owns 13,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,110,000 after purchasing an additional 722 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.4% during the 1st quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 926 shares of the company's stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.1% during the 1st quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 87,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,206,000 after purchasing an additional 3,475 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.88% of the company's stock.
Get Merck & Co. Inc. alerts:Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, June 24th. They set a "buy" rating and a $100.00 price target for the company. Cowen increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 27th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $76.00 to $98.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 18th. SVB Leerink reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $102.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, June 6th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $89.00 to $102.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $97.44.
Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.7 %
NYSE MRK opened at $87.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 1.40. The company has a market capitalization of $221.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.32. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $70.89 and a one year high of $95.72. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $90.27 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.41.Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The company reported $1.87 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.69 by $0.18. The firm had revenue of $14.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.85 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 50.02% and a net margin of 29.00%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.31 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.69 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 14th. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.16%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.27%.
Merck & Co., Inc. Profile
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Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.
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