Toronto Dominion Bank Acquires 42,907 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRKFree Report) by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,831,809 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,907 shares during the quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank owned 0.07% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $226,778,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after acquiring an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings 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 period. Swedbank AB acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $724,776,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Get Our Latest Stock Report on Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $114.96 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $291.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.73, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $117.39 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $124.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRKGet Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.

Further Reading

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

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