iA Global Asset Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

iA Global Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 114,785 shares of the company’s stock after selling 16,052 shares during the quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $398,000. Titleist Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the company’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 3,154 shares of the company’s stock valued at $314,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trek Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 106.0% during the fourth quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 16,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,624,000 after buying an additional 8,401 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut 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 assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.93 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $200.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.32, a PEG ratio of 0.80 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $120.30. 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 company’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.31.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.