Privium Fund Management B.V. Cuts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Privium Fund Management B.V. trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.5% of Privium Fund Management B.V.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Privium Fund Management B.V.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,185.5% in the fourth quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. now owns 333,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,385,000 after acquiring an additional 307,780 shares during the last quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. AJOVista LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $158,000. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. now owns 48,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,284,000 after acquiring an additional 1,459 shares during the period. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 45.6% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 3,310,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $374,879,000 after acquiring an additional 1,036,091 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.99 during trading on Friday, reaching $118.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,876,478 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,545,494. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $300.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.61, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $121.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.41. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.