Heritage Investors Management Corp Buys 15,236 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Heritage Investors Management Corp boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 320,847 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,236 shares during the period. Heritage Investors Management Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $28,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,151,642,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, 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. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.69.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.9%

Shares of MRK opened at $79.97 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $85.79. The company has a market capitalization of $200.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39. 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. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $128.73.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

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.