BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Sells 62,496 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 12.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 422,607 shares of the company's stock after selling 62,496 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $47,991,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth about $36,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.48 on Friday, reaching $101.64. 6,081,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,121,695. The business's 50 day moving average price is $105.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $116.95. The company has a market capitalization of $257.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.31, a PEG ratio of 1.48 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.19%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

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.