Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Sells 663,308 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Dimensional Fund Advisors LP reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7%, selling 663,308 shares, which now totals 10,914,227 shares owned, valued at approximately $979.6 million.
• Merck recently reported $2.13 earnings per share for the latest quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.03, despite revenues of $15.81 billion falling short of expected $15.92 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share to be paid on October 7, representing an annualized dividend yield of 3.9%.

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,914,227 shares of the company's stock after selling 663,308 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.43% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $979,604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. 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 research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $1.59 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $84.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,479,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,960,206. The company has a market capitalization of $210.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $81.18 and a 200-day moving average of $83.31. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $120.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 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.