Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK is Oak Grove Capital LLC's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Oak Grove Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.3%, making it the firm's 8th largest position, with holdings now valued at approximately $16.1 million.
• Merck recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, surpassing expectations, but its revenue of $15.81 billion fell short of analysts' forecasts.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 3.9% dividend yield, with a payout ratio of about 49.92%.

Oak Grove Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 18.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 179,210 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 27,700 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 3.4% of Oak Grove Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Oak Grove Capital LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,086,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock worth $4,418,820,000 after purchasing an additional 29,104,112 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $991,553,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,543,000 after acquiring an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after acquiring 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

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.9%

MRK traded up $1.59 on Friday, hitting $84.35. 10,479,282 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,960,206. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $81.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $83.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $120.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.