Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $84.24 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.1% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 939,299 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 86,162 shares during the period. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $84,243,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $80.09 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $200.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 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 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $120.30. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.82 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.75.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates 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, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. 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.