Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by LGT Group Foundation

LGT Group Foundation grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 697,137 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 12,758 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.3% of LGT Group Foundation's holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. LGT Group Foundation's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $86,306,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Liberty Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,936.5% in the 2nd quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 68,854 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,524,000 after purchasing an additional 65,473 shares in the last quarter. Choreo LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 101.4% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 104,717 shares of the company's stock worth $13,344,000 after buying an additional 52,716 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 2nd quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC now owns 79,937 shares of the company's stock worth $9,896,000 after acquiring an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.2% in the 2nd quarter. McBroom & Associates LLC now owns 4,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 1,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.1% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 382,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,304,000 after acquiring an additional 90,634 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock traded down $2.43 during trading on Monday, hitting $115.41. The company had a trading volume of 14,720,336 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,657,758. The firm has a market capitalization of $292.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $119.68 and a 200 day moving average of $124.95. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 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 Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $134.58.

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.