Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,957 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,827 shares during the period. Reynders McVeigh Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & were worth $3,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 2,206,288 shares of the company’s stock valued at $129,884,000 after buying an additional 111,050 shares during the last quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP bought a new stake in shares of Merck & during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $300,000. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV bought a new stake in shares of Merck & during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $915,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $412,000. Finally, Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. now owns 2,563,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,909,000 after buying an additional 151,225 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.73% of the company’s stock.
Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE:MRK) traded down 0.41% on Monday, reaching $62.84. The company had a trading volume of 6,696,792 shares. Merck & Company, Inc. has a one year low of $57.18 and a one year high of $66.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $63.65 and a 200 day moving average of $63.78. The stock has a market cap of $171.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.02 and a beta of 0.80.
Merck & (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. Merck & had a return on equity of 25.75% and a net margin of 17.14%. Merck &’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.93 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Company, Inc. will post $3.87 EPS for the current year.
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Investors of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.99%. Merck &’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.11%.
MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Cowen and Company reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $68.00 target price on shares of Merck & in a report on Tuesday, April 11th. Jefferies Group LLC restated an “underperform” rating and set a $51.00 price objective (down from $52.00) on shares of Merck & in a report on Saturday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Merck & in a report on Sunday, April 23rd. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Merck & from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $72.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 10th. Finally, J P Morgan Chase & Co lifted their price objective on Merck & from $74.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.80.
In other Merck & news, Director C Robert Kidder sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.54, for a total value of $317,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 14,317 shares in the company, valued at approximately $909,702.18. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Merck & Company Profile
Merck & Co, Inc is a global healthcare company. The Company offers health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, Healthcare Services and Alliances. The Company’s Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products marketed either directly by the Company or through joint ventures.
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