Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd

ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,967,970 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 119,339 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 5.5% of ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd owned approximately 0.08% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $176,659,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Tilson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the first quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company's stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the first quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,761 shares of the company's stock worth $966,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8%

MRK stock traded up $0.71 on Friday, hitting $84.82. 10,057,745 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,316,467. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $128.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business's fifty day moving average is $80.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.