Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Sells 50,885 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.9% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,606,526 shares of the company’s stock after selling 50,885 shares during the quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $233,962,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 27,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $516,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 71.4% in the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 44,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 18,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $1,714,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.74 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $133.43. The firm has a market cap of $200.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.