Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Acquires 71,019 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,262,313 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 71,019 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 2.9% of Bahl & Gaynor Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. owned approximately 0.17% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $527,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $3,108,366,000. Capital International Investors increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company's stock valued at $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the 1st 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. Swedbank AB bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $724,776,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. UBS Group decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.62 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $114.71. The company had a trading volume of 7,053,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,676,855. The company's fifty day moving average price is $119.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $124.85. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $290.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.14, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

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.