Jacobs & Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 113,257 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 10,204 shares during the period. Jacobs & Co. CA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,731,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,250,767,000. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 24,251,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,983,811,000 after buying an additional 4,112,158 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.6% in the fourth quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 13,542,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,107,769,000 after buying an additional 3,252,367 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.7% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 22,569,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,846,174,000 after buying an additional 3,221,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi Pioneer Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,822,416 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,060,000 after buying an additional 2,428,079 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.86% of the company’s stock.
MRK stock traded down $0.14 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $75.98. 159,205 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,986,551. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.84, a PEG ratio of 1.89 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $79.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $71.71 and a 12-month high of $87.80.
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 15th were paid a $0.65 dividend. This represents a $2.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 12th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 50.10%.
Separately, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, February 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $95.92.
About Merck & Co., Inc.
Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health segments. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, diabetes, and women's health, as well as and vaccine products.
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