Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $83.18 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sarasin & Partners LLP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 926,650 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 38,149 shares during the period. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $83,176,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $79.30 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.98 and a 200-day moving average of $89.69. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.