Capital International Investors Acquires 5,865,948 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Capital International Investors lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares during the period. Capital International Investors owned approximately 0.24% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $794,847,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock worth $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the period. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Kennedy Investment Group raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% in the 4th quarter. Kennedy Investment Group now owns 2,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $280,000 after buying an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after acquiring an additional 445 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $125.30. 6,466,602 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,292,268. The stock has a market cap of $317.36 billion, a PE ratio of 139.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $128.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.55 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $135.36.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.