Arizona State Retirement System Has $66.64 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 0.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 742,380 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,713 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $66,636,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 4,373 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $398,000. Balboa Wealth Partners grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% during the fourth quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 5,180 shares of the company's stock worth $515,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Finally, Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $2,754,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.67 during trading on Friday, hitting $83.35. 9,716,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,419,646. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $79.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.49. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $129.93.

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 analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.89%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.