WealthShield Partners LLC Buys 16,447 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• WealthShield Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 81.3%, acquiring an additional 16,447 shares, bringing their total holdings to 36,678 shares worth approximately $3.3 million.
• Analysts have shifted their ratings on Merck, with Cantor Fitzgerald downgrading to a "cautious" rating and consensus target price currently set at $107.44, indicating a "Hold" rating overall.
• Merck recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81, which translates to an annualized payout of $3.24 and a dividend yield of 4.0%.

WealthShield Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 81.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 36,678 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 16,447 shares during the period. WealthShield Partners LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $398,000. Waterloo Capital L.P. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 3,154 shares of the company's stock worth $314,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.0% during the fourth quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 2,440 shares of the company's stock worth $243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Nova Scotia increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 1,958,802 shares of the company's stock worth $194,879,000 after acquiring an additional 744,509 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $80.78 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $80.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.29. 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 market capitalization of $202.85 billion, a PE ratio of 12.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 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.

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 business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 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 dividend yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.

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