Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Harbour Investments Inc.

Harbour Investments Inc. trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,951 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,836 shares during the quarter. Harbour Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Semus Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,850 shares during the period. Finally, Advisor OS LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 32,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $79.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $199.05 billion, a PE ratio of 12.21, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $80.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.66. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $120.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.63% and a net margin of 25.79%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

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.