Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Has $9.40 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 75,939 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,845 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,401,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. PFW Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares in the last quarter. Patron Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,396,000 after purchasing an additional 222 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 30,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,898,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the 1st quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. now owns 247,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,578 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $118.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.63 billion, a PE ratio of 131.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $118.47 and its 200-day moving average is $124.44.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target 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.