MUFG Securities EMEA plc Sells 165,001 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• MUFG Securities EMEA plc reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.1%, selling 165,001 shares, and now holds 104,999 shares valued at approximately $9.4 million.
• Merck reported earnings of $2.13 per share for the quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $2.03, with total revenue reaching $15.81 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81, yielding 4.0%, with the payment date set for October 7th.

MUFG Securities EMEA plc reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 61.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 104,999 shares of the company's stock after selling 165,001 shares during the period. MUFG Securities EMEA plc's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,000. F M Investments LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,805,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 14,775 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 29,390 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $80.29. The company had a trading volume of 7,849,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,616,303. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $120.30. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $80.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.75. The company has a market capitalization of $200.55 billion, a PE ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.38. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 41.05%. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 49.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.