Lmcg Investments LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lmcg Investments LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 111,836 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,354 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.8% of Lmcg Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Lmcg Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,845,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Capital International Investors increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after acquiring an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $724,776,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after buying an additional 3,153,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after acquiring an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted 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. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.5 %

MRK stock opened at $117.96 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $118.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 yield of 2.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.