Stablepoint Partners LLC Cuts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stablepoint Partners LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 48,890 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,166 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.1% of Stablepoint Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Stablepoint Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,247,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after acquiring an additional 3,153,333 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,632,255,000 after buying an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,551,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,477,357,000 after buying an additional 212,852 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $115.80 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of $293.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.67, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $120.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.20. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.66%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price 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.