Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC Has $41.69 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 10.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 336,782 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,300 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.7% of Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Susquehanna Portfolio Strategies LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $41,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $545,000. Scientech Research LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth about $1,789,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 366.2% in the second quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 177,946 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,030,000 after buying an additional 139,779 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,339,106 shares of the company's stock worth $289,581,000 after acquiring an additional 149,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,006,720 shares of the company's stock valued at $619,832,000 after acquiring an additional 119,684 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on 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. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.60 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $113.69. The company had a trading volume of 11,920,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,764,325. The stock has a market capitalization of $287.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.32, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $116.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.99. 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. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. 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 the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The company's revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.