Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI Purchases 89,123 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.5%, purchasing an additional 89,123 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total shares to 320,445 valued at $28,846,000.
• Merck recently reported an EPS of $2.13 for the quarter, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.10, although revenue fell short at $15.81 billion versus the expected $15.92 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81, with an upcoming payment date of October 7th, yielding approximately 4.0% annually based on a payout ratio of 49.92%.

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 38.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 320,445 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 89,123 shares during the quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $28,846,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% during the first quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 4,705 shares of the company's stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 16,363 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,469,000 after acquiring an additional 930 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 81.3% during the first quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 36,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,308,000 after acquiring an additional 16,447 shares in the last quarter. AXS Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the first quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 15,014 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,348,000 after acquiring an additional 578 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.2%

NYSE MRK opened at $80.78 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $84.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $120.30. 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 company has a market cap of $202.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of 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 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of 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 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

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.

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