BluePath Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BluePath Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 21.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,401 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 940 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 0.5% of BluePath Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,108,366,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 82,442,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,487,472,000 after buying an additional 5,196,914 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after buying an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 352.2% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Nova Scotia now owns 3,144,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,814,000 after buying an additional 2,449,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29,914.1% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,410,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,818,000 after buying an additional 2,402,700 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, March 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.5 %

MRK stock traded down $1.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $125.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,002,052 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,506,954. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $318.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.83, a PEG ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $129.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $124.70.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.40 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 17th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

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.