Benjamin Edwards Inc. Purchases 53,177 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.6%, now owning 444,627 shares worth approximately $39.91 million.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, representing an annualized yield of 4.0%, payable on October 7th.
• Merck's stock recently traded at $80.73 and reported quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding analysts' expectations.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 13.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 444,627 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 53,177 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $39,910,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock worth $22,665,601,000 after buying an additional 1,417,274 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during 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 valued at $2,143,571,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791,737 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,375,974 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,828,040,000 after purchasing an additional 1,742,313 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen cut 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 research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price 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. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $0.26 on Tuesday, hitting $80.29. 7,849,343 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,616,303. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $80.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $83.75. The firm has a market cap of $200.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $120.30. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. As a group, research analysts anticipate 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 paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.