Headlands Technologies LLC Buys New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Headlands Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 41,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,190,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company's stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 56,131 shares of the company's stock worth $6,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,119 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 116,176 shares of the company's stock worth $12,666,000 after purchasing an additional 4,931 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Partnership Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $257,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $115.33. 12,731,786 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,672,215. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $119.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $124.85. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $292.11 billion, a PE ratio of 128.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.