Marshall Wace LLP Buys 634,194 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 32.5% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,584,183 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 634,194 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 0.4% of Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Marshall Wace LLP owned approximately 0.10% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $319,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after buying an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,841,233,000 after buying an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $724,776,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 85,595,999 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,331,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,153,333 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $115.60 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $117.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.26. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. 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 company has a market capitalization of $292.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 128.44, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company 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 firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 2.66%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on 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 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

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.