Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is S&CO Inc.'s 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• S&CO Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8%, acquiring an additional 23,216 shares during the 1st quarter, bringing its total to 426,583 shares valued at approximately $38.29 million.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, yielding 3.85%, payable to shareholders of record on September 15th.
• Analysts have varied opinions on Merck's stock, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a price target of $108.69, as several brokerages have recently adjusted their target prices.

S&CO Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 426,583 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,216 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 2.6% of S&CO Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. S&CO Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $38,290,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock worth $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings 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 worth $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock worth $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded up $1.15 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.27. 11,884,779 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,868,570. The company has a market capitalization of $199.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $84.80. 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. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $120.30.

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 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 return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.