NorthRock Partners LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• NorthRock Partners LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8%, owning 32,714 shares valued at about $2.96 million after selling 3,545 shares in the first quarter.
• Several brokerages downgraded Merck's stock, with Citigroup lowering its price target from $115.00 to $84.00, while the overall analyst consensus is a "Hold" rating with an average price target of $108.69.
• Merck's recent earnings report showed a profit of $2.13 per share, surpassing expectations, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81, resulting in a 3.91% yield.

NorthRock Partners LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,714 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,545 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock worth $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during 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 valued at $2,143,571,000 after buying an additional 3,791,737 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position 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 valued at $1,828,040,000 after buying an additional 1,742,313 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its position 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 valued at $1,537,189,000 after buying an additional 2,847,934 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered 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 lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given 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. Stock Performance

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 firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $120.30. The firm has a market cap of $197.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.09, a PEG ratio of 0.83 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for 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%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. 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.