Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC

ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,733 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 726 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 0.1% of ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,566,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,479,071,000 after purchasing an additional 228,578 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $134.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $129.48. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 551,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,356,726. The business’s 50-day moving average is $128.97 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.43. The company has a market capitalization of $327.95 billion, a PE ratio of 143.44, a PEG ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.38%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.