Park National Corp OH trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,229 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,382 shares during the quarter. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,320,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $1,823,028,000. BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 198,224,263 shares of the company's stock worth $15,191,909,000 after acquiring an additional 10,326,974 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,153,283 shares of the company's stock worth $3,682,009,000 after acquiring an additional 5,409,154 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,671.4% during the 1st quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 5,099,334 shares of the company's stock worth $418,400,000 after acquiring an additional 4,915,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 216,096,057 shares of the company's stock worth $17,730,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,893,526 shares in the last quarter. 73.33% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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Analyst Ratings Changes
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Atlantic Securities upped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 13th. Cowen boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 27th. Berenberg Bank raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $95.00 to $100.00 in a report on Wednesday. Cowen boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Monday, June 27th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $89.00 to $102.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $98.28.
Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance
Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.72 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $222.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.33. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.48. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.89 and a 12-month high of $95.72. The company has a current ratio of 1.39, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.66.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 28th. The company reported $1.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.20. The business 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 48.45% and a net margin of 29.00%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.31 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.33 EPS for the current year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 15th will be issued a $0.69 dividend. This represents a $2.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 14th. 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.
Further Reading
- Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK)
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