Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Victory Capital Management Inc.

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 33.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,467,000 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,121,878 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned about 0.18% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $400,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Quilter Plc raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,988,000 after purchasing an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during 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 period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,229,000 after buying an additional 25,997 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down 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 assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.76 on Thursday, hitting $81.67. The company had a trading volume of 5,616,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,431,796. 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 $128.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $79.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.