Artemis Investment Management LLP Purchases 18,179 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 129,036 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 18,179 shares during the period. Artemis Investment Management LLP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,975,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cross Staff Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 6,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $732,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. PFW Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,270,000 after buying an additional 4,433 shares during the last quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 3,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $352,000 after buying an additional 445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,338,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Monday, reaching $114.10. The company had a trading volume of 2,408,441 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,657,858. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $125.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $288.99 billion, a PE ratio of 126.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.67% and a net margin of 21.99%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.70%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.