Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,226 shares of the company’s stock after selling 446 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.3% of Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $454,000. Mather Group LLC. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the third quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 26,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,679,000 after purchasing an additional 1,433 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the third quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP now owns 86,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,938,000 after purchasing an additional 5,421 shares during the last quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.2% in the third quarter. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC now owns 4,778 shares of the company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 211.0% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 118,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,223,000 after purchasing an additional 80,547 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Berenberg Bank boosted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3 %

NYSE MRK opened at $129.79 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $129.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.96. 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 stock has a market cap of $328.73 billion, a PE ratio of 144.21, a PEG ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.37%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.