Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 86,162 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1%, owning 939,299 shares worth approximately $84.24 million as of their latest SEC filing.
• Merck & Co., Inc. declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing an annual yield of 4.0%, with a payout date on October 7th.
• The company reported quarterly earnings of $2.13 per share, exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.10, despite revenue falling short of analyst expectations.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 10.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 939,299 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 86,162 shares during the quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $84,243,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the first quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,118,000 after buying an additional 6,850 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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, July 30th. 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 dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued 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. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.59 on Friday, reaching $84.35. The stock had a trading volume of 10,479,282 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,027,316. The stock has a market cap of $210.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $120.30. The business's 50-day moving average price is $81.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm 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 41.05%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 49.92%.

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.