Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Shares Sold by Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.

Key Points

Error: Response status code does not indicate success: 429 (Too Many Requests).

Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 72.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 503,208 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,292,388 shares during the period. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $45,168,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 252,513,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,665,601,000 after acquiring an additional 1,417,274 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 81,669,651 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,330,668,000 after acquiring an additional 927,621 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 144.6% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 49,229,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,418,820,000 after acquiring an additional 29,104,112 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 3,791,737 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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 reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3%

MRK traded up $1.1030 on Friday, reaching $87.1830. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,973,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,391,381. The stock has a market cap of $217.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17. The business's 50 day moving average is $81.53 and its 200 day moving average is $83.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Merck & Co., Inc. has set its FY 2025 guidance at 8.870-8.970 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

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.