Fiera Capital Corp Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Fiera Capital Corp reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 59.4%, selling 7,466 shares to hold 5,094 shares, valued at approximately $457,000.
• Several institutional investors increased their stakes, with Pacer Advisors Inc. boosting its holdings by over 2,240%, now owning 5,286,801 shares valued at $474.5 million.
• Merck's quarterly earnings beat expectations with EPS of $2.22, and it declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of **3.82%**.

Fiera Capital Corp lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 59.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,094 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,466 shares during the period. Fiera Capital Corp's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 4.1%

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $3.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $78.41. 10,537,375 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,841,378. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $196.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.10, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $80.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year 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 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s 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.