Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 9,174 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 312,252 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,174 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $38,657,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.8% in the fourth quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 15,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,653,000 after buying an additional 2,815 shares during the period. Accuvest Global Advisors acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,090,000. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 1,146,245 shares of the company’s stock valued at $124,964,000 after buying an additional 35,684 shares during the period. ROI Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,496,000. Finally, Holderness Investments Co. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.4% in the fourth quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 47,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,148,000 after buying an additional 11,022 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $113.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. The company has a market cap of $287.63 billion, a PE ratio of 126.18, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $116.46 and a 200 day simple moving average of $123.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised 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. Barclays dropped their price target 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. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

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.