Cordatus Wealth Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7%, acquiring a total of 27,047 shares valued at approximately $2.43 million.
• Merck & Co., Inc. announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.96%, scheduled to be paid on October 7th.
• As of now, Merck has a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price of $107.44, following mixed assessments from various analysts regarding its stock performance.

Cordatus Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 29.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 27,047 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,189 shares during the period. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $2,143,571,000 after buying an additional 3,791,737 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in 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 worth $1,828,040,000 after buying an additional 1,742,313 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.6% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,452,240 shares of the company's stock worth $1,537,189,000 after buying an additional 2,847,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $81.91 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 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 capitalization of $205.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The company's fifty day moving average is $80.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.96.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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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