AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Purchases 235,575 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 23.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,241,524 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 235,575 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.6% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $111,294,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the first quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 29,704 shares of the company's stock worth $2,666,000 after purchasing an additional 2,735 shares during the last quarter. Unigestion Holding SA boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 127.1% in the first quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 54,996 shares of the company's stock worth $4,936,000 after purchasing an additional 30,778 shares during the last quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the first quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 21,003 shares of the company's stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the first quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 150,158 shares of the company's stock worth $13,478,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 90.9% in the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 63,569 shares of the company's stock worth $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $1.33 on Friday, hitting $78.95. 9,845,152 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,699,912. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $79.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.96. The firm has a market cap of $198.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.