Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Aviso Wealth Management

Key Points

• Aviso Wealth Management has significantly increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 368.2% during the 1st quarter, now holding 19,594 shares valued at approximately $1.76 million.
• Other institutional investors such as Pacer Advisors and Northern Trust have also made large increases in their positions in Merck, showcasing strong institutional interest in the company.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with a yield of 4.1%, and has a reported earnings per share of $2.13 for the last quarter.

Aviso Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 368.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,594 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,409 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.9% of Aviso Wealth Management's portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Aviso Wealth Management's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 21,547,758 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,143,571,000 after buying an additional 3,791,737 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective 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, July 10th. Citigroup restated 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 restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.27. 11,898,764 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,108,983. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $80.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $120.30.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.