Value Partners Investments Inc. Acquires 250 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Value Partners Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,519 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,859 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $79.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $133.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $79.02 and its 200 day moving average is $88.05. The company has a market capitalization of $200.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.