Ninety One UK Ltd Acquires 11,708 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 26.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,695 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 11,708 shares during the quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,089,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after buying an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after buying an additional 2,026,859 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.9%

NYSE:MRK traded up $2.37 on Wednesday, hitting $83.74. The stock had a trading volume of 18,390,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,340,524. The business's fifty day moving average is $79.09 and its 200 day moving average is $86.73. The company has a market cap of $210.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s 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.