Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Sells 134,690 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,469,474 shares of the company’s stock after selling 134,690 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 3.5% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $166,873,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,332,000 after acquiring an additional 5,088 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% during the 1st quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC now owns 1,659 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.4% during the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 145,961 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,257,000 after buying an additional 29,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $1,293,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.42 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $100.74. 414,752 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,091,625. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $106.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $117.54. The firm has a market cap of $254.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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 under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.