Breakwater Capital Group Has $1.30 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Breakwater Capital Group cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 231 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,298,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $3,479,799,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,408,763,000 after buying an additional 5,550,824 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $78.28 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $196.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related 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 stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.