Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 346,147 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,625,085 shares of the company’s stock after selling 346,147 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.6% of Ameriprise Financial Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.66% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $2,058,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Patron Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after buying an additional 222 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after buying an additional 2,525 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $114.73 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $117.39 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.20. The company has a market capitalization of $290.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. 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, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.