Marathon Asset Management Ltd Cuts Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 336,003 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,527 shares during the period. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $38,390,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% during the 1st quarter. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 11,145 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after purchasing an additional 1,263 shares during the last quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% in the 1st quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise now owns 99,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,068,000 after purchasing an additional 14,420 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New Hampshire lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New Hampshire now owns 23,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Grassi Investment Management purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $13,757,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $109.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $277.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.93, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $122.60. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.81%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $143.00 to $132.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $131.62.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.