Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Has $22.03 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 366.2% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 177,946 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 139,779 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.9% of Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest position. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,030,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,297,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $113.08 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $286.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 125.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued 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 2.72%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.