Quantbot Technologies LP Sells 15,577 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Quantbot Technologies LP decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.0% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,867 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,577 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.5% of Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.4% during the 2nd quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 6,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after acquiring an additional 877 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 6,201,926 shares of the company’s stock worth $767,965,000 after purchasing an additional 431,074 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.7% during the second quarter. Black Diamond Financial LLC now owns 4,018 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 545 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.9% during the second quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,969,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,616,000 after buying an additional 701,481 shares during the period. Finally, Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the second quarter. Marble Harbor Investment Counsel LLC now owns 71,966 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,909,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $115.86 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $118.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $124.57. The stock has a market cap of $293.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

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.