Axa S.A. Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Axa S.A. decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,114,652 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,042 shares during the period. Axa S.A.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $137,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% in the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% in the 2nd quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 23,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,701 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 853.6% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd now owns 125,181 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,497,000 after acquiring an additional 112,054 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 1,831,809 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,778,000 after acquiring an additional 42,907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fred Alger Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.8% during the 2nd quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC now owns 93,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,550,000 after purchasing an additional 23,589 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of 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 given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $114.96 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $117.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.17 billion, a PE ratio of 127.73, a P/E/G 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 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.