ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. Acquires New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. has acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by purchasing 277,805 shares valued at approximately $24.93 million during the first quarter.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with an annualized yield of 4.0%, to be paid on October 7th.
• The company's latest earnings report showed EPS of $2.13, which exceeded analysts' expectations, although revenue fell short of estimates at $15.81 billion.

ASR Vermogensbeheer N.V. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 277,805 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,934,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.5% in the 1st quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 320,445 shares of the company's stock worth $28,846,000 after purchasing an additional 89,123 shares in the last quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 4,705 shares of the company's stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 16,363 shares of the company's stock worth $1,469,000 after purchasing an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 81.3% in the 1st quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 36,678 shares of the company's stock worth $3,308,000 after purchasing an additional 16,447 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AXS Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the company's stock worth $1,348,000 after purchasing an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $80.78 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $120.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $80.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.29. The company has a market cap of $202.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.45, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

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.

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