Core Alternative Capital Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Core Alternative Capital reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.2% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 79,944 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,101 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 2.0% of Core Alternative Capital’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,897,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after buying an additional 3,153,333 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,632,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696,151 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,551,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,477,357,000 after acquiring an additional 212,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 12,050,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,313,741,000 after purchasing an additional 253,981 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $113.69 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $287.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.02.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.