TCW Group Inc. Has $51.12 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

TCW Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 450,123 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,896 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $51,116,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ORG Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 27,873.3% during the second quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 4,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $537,000 after acquiring an additional 4,181 shares during the period. PGGM Investments increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 381.6% during the second quarter. PGGM Investments now owns 53,326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,602,000 after purchasing an additional 42,254 shares during the period. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.1% in the second quarter. Baader Bank Aktiengesellschaft now owns 8,373 shares of the company’s stock valued at $996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,393 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth $511,000. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.9% during the second quarter. Corundum Group Inc. now owns 16,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,102,000 after buying an additional 6,493 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $136.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $101.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $104.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $115.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $255.57 billion, a PE ratio of 21.18, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

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.