Perpetual Ltd Has $59.42 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Perpetual Ltd lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 13.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 662,014 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 76,619 shares during the period. Perpetual Ltd's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $59,422,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 16,767 shares of the company's stock worth $1,505,000 after acquiring an additional 892 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 11,764 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,056,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 6,502 shares of the company's stock valued at $584,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Baugh & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.9% in the first quarter. Baugh & Associates LLC now owns 60,897 shares of the company's stock worth $5,195,000 after purchasing an additional 10,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KPP Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.1% during the first quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the company's stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 3,516 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed 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 report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $78.94 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $198.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $79.04 and a 200-day moving average of $87.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $132.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. 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.

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