Eagle Strategies LLC Boosts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Eagle Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 149.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,883 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,107 shares during the period. Eagle Strategies LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $3,108,366,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 14,972,074 shares of the company's stock worth $1,632,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,696,151 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company's stock worth $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 13,551,242 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,477,357,000 after purchasing an additional 212,852 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Bank of America decreased 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded up $0.54 during trading on Thursday, hitting $115.25. 7,587,857 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,670,686. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $291.91 billion, a PE ratio of 127.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $119.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $124.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

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.