Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. has increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 64.5%, now holding 3,086,806 shares, which represents about 3.9% of their portfolio.
• Merck recently reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $2.03.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with an annualized yield of 3.85%, demonstrating its commitment to returning value to shareholders.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 64.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,086,806 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,210,422 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 3.9% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Thornburg Investment Management Inc. owned 0.12% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $277,072,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $398,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock worth $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AIA Group Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.0% during the 4th quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 545,935 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,310,000 after buying an additional 200,498 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment 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 stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.27. 11,898,764 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,886,317. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $120.30. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $80.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.80. The company has a market cap of $199.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company 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 41.63%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.