Sarasin & Partners LLP Sells 539,785 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sarasin & Partners LLP reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,268,362 shares of the company’s stock after selling 539,785 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 2.5% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP owned 0.09% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $280,823,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on MRK shares. 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 report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wolfe Research raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.36 during trading on Friday, reaching $113.67. 10,102,341 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,717,050. The company’s 50-day moving average is $123.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $126.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $287.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 126.30, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 41.67%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($2.06) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.