Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. has reduced its stock holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6%, selling 5,818 shares to hold a total of 29,155 shares valued at approximately $2.62 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Pacer Advisors Inc. and GAMMA Investing LLC, have significantly increased their stakes in Merck, indicating strong interest in the company.
• Merck recently reported an EPS of $2.13, surpassing expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, with a yield of 4.1%.

Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 16.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 29,155 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,818 shares during the period. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,617,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in 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 valued at $1,151,642,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in 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 valued at $388,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 3,791,737 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $78.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $120.30. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $84.80. The stock has a market cap of $196.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.04, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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 predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

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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