Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by XTX Topco Ltd

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 155.3% during the first quarter, acquiring an additional 15,404 shares to bring its total to 25,325 shares valued at approximately $2.27 million.
• Merck's recent quarterly earnings surpassed analyst expectations, reporting $2.13 EPS compared to the consensus estimate of $2.03, despite revenues falling slightly short at $15.81 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, which will yield 3.96% annually, with a payout ratio of 47.16% and the dividend set to be paid on October 7th.

XTX Topco Ltd increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 155.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,325 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,404 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,273,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% in the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,543,000 after buying an additional 5,060,959 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake 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 valued at $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.4% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 3,791,737 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MRK traded up $1.15 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $79.27. The stock had a trading volume of 11,898,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,513,969. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $199.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.21, a P/E/G ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $80.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $84.66. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 49.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

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.