United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Buys New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd invested $341,000 in Merck & Co., Inc., acquiring 3,800 shares during the 1st quarter, according to its recent SEC filing.
• Several research firms have given mixed ratings on Merck, with Citigroup lowering its price target to $84.00, while Guggenheim maintained a buy rating with a target of $115.00.
• Merck's recent quarterly earnings report showed an EPS of $2.13, surpassing estimates, and the company announced a $0.81 per share dividend scheduled for payment on October 7th.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,800 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $40,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $44,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of MRK traded down $0.74 on Wednesday, reaching $80.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,943,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,735,399. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $80.52 and a 200-day moving average of $84.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $120.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.00 billion, a PE ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. 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 note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $107.44.

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.