Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys 262,481 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.1% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 262,481 shares for a total of 1,507,906 shares.
• Several analysts have varied opinions on Merck, with Guggenheim maintaining a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price, while others like Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo have lowered their price targets.
• Merck announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share to be paid on October 7th, representing an annualized yield of 3.9%.

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,507,906 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 262,481 shares during the quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $135,350,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $36,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, 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. 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $82.67 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $80.97 and a 200-day moving average of $83.72. 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 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $120.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS 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 company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. 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.

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