Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 994,125 shares of the company’s stock after selling 26,378 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $89,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quilter Plc increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew 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 during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during 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 purchasing an additional 6,850 shares during the period. Advisor OS LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the first 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 period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,229,000 after purchasing an additional 25,997 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $84.82 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $212.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a PEG ratio of 0.88 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio 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.