Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Cut by Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV

Key Points

• Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.7% in Q1, ending with 21,496 shares valued at $1.93 million.
• Several hedge funds increased their holdings, with Simplicity Wealth LLC notably raising its stake by 991.7% during the same period.
• Merck reported $2.13 earnings per share for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, but had a revenue of $15.81 billion, which was slightly below predictions.

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 23.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,496 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,686 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,930,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company's stock worth $1,739,000 after acquiring an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after purchasing an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock worth $5,118,000 after purchasing an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $84.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $81.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.52. 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. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $120.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its 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 firm 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

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