New Age Alpha Advisors LLC Has $9.48 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• New Age Alpha Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.1% during the first quarter, now owning 105,652 shares worth approximately $9.48 million.
• Several hedge funds, including Northern Trust Corp and UBS AM, increased their positions in Merck during the fourth quarter, with institutional investors owning 76.07% of the company’s stock.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing an annual yield of 4.1%, with a dividend payout ratio of 49.92%.

New Age Alpha Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 21.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 105,652 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,230 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 21,547,758 shares of the company's stock worth $2,143,571,000 after purchasing an additional 3,791,737 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 18,375,974 shares of the company's stock worth $1,828,040,000 after buying an additional 1,742,313 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.6% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 15,452,240 shares of the company's stock worth $1,537,189,000 after buying an additional 2,847,934 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.93 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $120.30. The stock has a market cap of $200.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $80.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.31.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.

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