LGT Group Foundation Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• LGT Group Foundation reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% during the first quarter, selling 28,984 shares and now holds 393,598 shares valued at $35.3 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in Merck, with LGT Fund Management boosting its stake by 30.2% and Russell Investments increasing theirs by 21.1%.
• Merck's stock price declined by 0.7%, closing at $80.09 with a twelve-month range between $73.31 and $120.30.

LGT Group Foundation lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 393,598 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,984 shares during the quarter. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $35,329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.2% during the 1st quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 71,502 shares of the company's stock worth $6,418,000 after acquiring an additional 16,605 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.1% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,730,069 shares of the company's stock worth $334,341,000 after purchasing an additional 649,408 shares during the last quarter. Prudential PLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 341,810 shares of the company's stock worth $30,681,000 after purchasing an additional 31,758 shares during the last quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5,549.1% during the 1st quarter. Clal Insurance Enterprises Holdings Ltd now owns 6,553 shares of the company's stock worth $593,000 after purchasing an additional 6,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 939,299 shares of the company's stock worth $84,243,000 after purchasing an additional 86,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 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. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given 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. Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.20 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $82.91. The stock had a trading volume of 1,082,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,489,412. The business's 50 day moving average is $80.97 and its 200-day moving average is $83.72. The company has a market cap of $207.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.77, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $120.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 49.92%.

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.