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

Ninety One UK Ltd raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 26.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock worth $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,642,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock worth $388,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 research report on Thursday. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.35 on Thursday, reaching $84.06. The stock had a trading volume of 14,718,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,408,952. The company has a market capitalization of $211.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $129.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.71.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.