Great Lakes Advisors LLC Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.5% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,214,824 shares of the company’s stock after selling 258,293 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.3% of Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $150,395,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.75 on Friday, hitting $117.84. The company had a trading volume of 8,577,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,621,607. The stock has a market capitalization of $298.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $119.93 and a 200-day moving average of $125.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on MRK. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Evercore ISI upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.