Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK Stock Position Reduced by Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 936,797 shares of the company’s stock after selling 44,882 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $77,896,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 237.4% during the third quarter. Darwin Wealth Management LLC now owns 307 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Kilter Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth $27,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 302.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 354 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bare Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 51.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bare Financial Services Inc now owns 366 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.0%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $108.12 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $112.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.44, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $268.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.28, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $103.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.85 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 44.91%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This trade represents a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.