Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Purchases 826,385 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 84.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,800,643 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 826,385 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $160,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quilter Plc grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew 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 valued at $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,309,000 after purchasing an additional 18,775 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,229,000 after purchasing an additional 25,997 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $78.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 60,171,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,331,143. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $87.73. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $130.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.