American Century Companies Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 65.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,050,615 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,209,834 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $273,823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Semus Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares during the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares during the period. Quilter Plc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,118,000 after buying an additional 6,850 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned 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, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

MRK stock opened at $82.77 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $206.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.75, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $120.30. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $81.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $83.61.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $15.81 billion during 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 41.05%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid 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 dividend yield of 3.9%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

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.