Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Aspiriant LLC

Aspiriant LLC cut its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,377 shares of the company’s stock after selling 535 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,746,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 8,362,812 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,102,135,000 after buying an additional 56,644 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,693,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $952,402,000 after buying an additional 64,996 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after buying an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 7,070,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $932,924,000 after acquiring an additional 296,092 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $108.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $275.32 billion, a PE ratio of 120.78, a P/E/G ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $114.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $122.45.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.