Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE:MRK) released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.01 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.14, RTT News reports. The company 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%. The firm’s revenue was up .9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.93 earnings per share. Merck & updated its FY17 guidance to $3.76-3.88 EPS.
Merck & (NYSE MRK) traded up 0.27% during trading on Wednesday, hitting $62.49. 6,552,276 shares of the stock traded hands. The company’s 50 day moving average is $63.66 and its 200 day moving average is $63.77. Merck & has a one year low of $58.29 and a one year high of $66.80. The company has a market capitalization of $170.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83 and a beta of 0.80.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.01%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Merck &’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.11%.
Several analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) restated a “neutral” rating and set a $74.00 target price (up from $70.00) on shares of Merck & in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Citigroup Inc. set a $65.00 price target on Merck & and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 5th. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Merck & from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, May 26th. BidaskClub downgraded Merck & from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies set a $70.00 target price on Merck & and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.80.
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In other Merck & news, Director C Robert Kidder sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $63.54, for a total transaction of $317,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $909,702.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Guardian Capital LP boosted its position in shares of Merck & by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Guardian Capital LP now owns 73,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,309,000 after buying an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its position in shares of Merck & by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 497,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,303,000 after buying an additional 13,113 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & by 5.4% in the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 844,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,705,000 after buying an additional 43,058 shares in the last quarter. Tyers Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & during the fourth quarter valued at about $12,397,000. Finally, Menta Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & by 30.1% in the fourth quarter. Menta Capital LLC now owns 16,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $992,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares in the last quarter. 73.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
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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