Assetmark Inc. Has $14.16 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Assetmark Inc. has reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the first quarter, bringing its total ownership to 157,713 shares valued at approximately $14.16 million.
• Merck recently reported $2.22 earnings per share, exceeding analysts' estimates of $2.16, despite a 1.6% year-over-year decline in revenue, totaling $15.53 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 3.82%.

Assetmark Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 157,713 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,182 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,156,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock worth $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock worth $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 21,547,758 shares of the company's stock worth $2,143,571,000 after acquiring an additional 3,791,737 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.8% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,872,444 shares of the company's stock worth $1,976,911,000 after acquiring an additional 3,823,283 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on 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. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5%

MRK traded up $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.01. 3,140,912 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,814,104. The stock has a market cap of $208.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $120.30. 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 stock's 50-day simple moving average is $80.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.98.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

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.