BTIM Corp. Boosts Stake in Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BTIM Corp. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 646,655 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 50,965 shares during the period. BTIM Corp.’s holdings in Merck & were worth $41,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & during the fourth quarter valued at $1,628,824,000. Boston Partners increased its stake in Merck & by 2.6% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 19,935,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,266,671,000 after buying an additional 500,476 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox purchased a new stake in Merck & during the fourth quarter valued at $821,068,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Merck & by 0.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 13,414,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $852,368,000 after buying an additional 77,344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Macquarie Group Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 12,753,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $750,807,000 after buying an additional 506,952 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.46% of the company’s stock.

Shares of Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE:MRK) traded down 0.34% on Friday, hitting $61.63. The stock had a trading volume of 3,716,104 shares. Merck & Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $58.29 and a 12-month high of $66.80. The firm has a market cap of $168.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37 and a beta of 0.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $63.83.

Merck & (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $9.93 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.75 billion. Merck & had a return on equity of 26.02% and a net margin of 17.14%. The company’s revenue was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.93 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Company, Inc. will post $3.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. Merck &’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.11%.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up from $70.00) on shares of Merck & in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Citigroup Inc. set a $65.00 price objective on Merck & and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 5th. Zacks Investment Research raised Merck & from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $73.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, May 26th. BidaskClub downgraded Merck & from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 19th. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies set a $70.00 price target on Merck & and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $69.58.

About Merck &

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.