Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Metis Global Partners LLC

Key Points

• Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the first quarter, owning a total of 168,036 shares valued at approximately $15.08 million.
• Merck's recent earnings report showed $2.22 earnings per share, slightly exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, which indicates an annual yield of 3.82% for investors holding shares as of the record date.

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 10.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 168,036 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 15,964 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,083,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the period. American Assets Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $398,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 187,219 shares of the company's stock worth $18,625,000 after purchasing an additional 55,795 shares during the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,756,233 shares of the company's stock worth $174,710,000 after purchasing an additional 240,758 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 13,089 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, 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. One research 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $3.17 on Thursday, hitting $78.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,322,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,838,211. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $120.30. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $80.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.96. The company has a market capitalization of $197.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.12%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.