Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Natixis Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Natixis Advisors LLC has reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.7%, selling 175,562 shares, bringing its ownership to approximately 1.46 million shares valued at $131.37 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Geode Capital and Northern Trust Corp, have significantly increased their positions in Merck recently, indicating strong institutional interest, with institutional investors now holding 76.07% of the stock.
• Merck's latest quarterly earnings report showed earnings per share of $2.13, exceeding estimates, while the company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 with a dividend yield of 3.91%.

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 10.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,463,652 shares of the company's stock after selling 175,562 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.06% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $131,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $78.53. 2,170,250 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,814,231. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $80.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $197.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. Equities research analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.