Kentucky Retirement Systems Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kentucky Retirement Systems reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 190,863 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,578 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.7% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $23,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday. UBS Group reduced their target price on 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, Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $118.68 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $300.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $118.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $124.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. 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 is presently 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.