Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Cuts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,594,276 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,077,746 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $975,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 55,281 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,332,000 after buying an additional 5,088 shares during the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.4% in the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 10,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after acquiring an additional 1,048 shares during the period. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.3% in the first quarter. Capital Group Private Client Services Inc. now owns 46,158 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,091,000 after buying an additional 13,499 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital International Inc. CA grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 164.7% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 95,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,605,000 after buying an additional 59,441 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $97.43 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $107.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $118.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $246.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.