MetLife Investment Management LLC Sells 18,630 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 774,643 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,630 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.5% of MetLife Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $87,968,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Swedbank AB bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $724,776,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 230.8% in the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 2,807,933 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,622,000 after buying an additional 1,959,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.9% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,388,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,132,000 after buying an additional 1,508,821 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $102.41 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $259.06 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $106.44 and a 200-day moving average of $117.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.16%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 64.57%.

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.