Meritage Portfolio Management Has $238,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meritage Portfolio Management cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 95.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,650 shares of the company's stock after selling 51,572 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $238,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $80.97 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. 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 business's 50-day moving average is $79.20 and its 200-day moving average is $87.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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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