Comerica Bank Has $136.43 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Comerica Bank reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,102,025 shares of the company’s stock after selling 578 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.6% of Comerica Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $136,431,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $545,000. Scientech Research LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,789,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 366.2% in the 2nd quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC now owns 177,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,030,000 after acquiring an additional 139,779 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,339,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,581,000 after acquiring an additional 149,979 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays decreased their price target 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. Bank of America decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $113.69 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 126.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $99.14 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $116.70 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.99.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict 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 issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 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.