Pensionfund Sabic Sells 4,600 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pensionfund Sabic reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,600 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.9% of Pensionfund Sabic’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Aigen Investment Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,428,000. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the third quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 13,059 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170 shares during the period. Rathbones Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.5% in the third quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 952,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,019,000 after purchasing an additional 98,502 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 25,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,660,000 after buying an additional 3,319 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% in the third quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 837,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,192,000 after buying an additional 55,376 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. TheStreet downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $127.99 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $133.10. The company’s 50 day moving average is $128.68 and its 200 day moving average is $123.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a market cap of $324.17 billion, a PE ratio of 142.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.40 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.