Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s 6th Largest Position

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,891,756 shares of the company’s stock after selling 290,704 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.5% of Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 0.23% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $729,399,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 112,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,873,000 after purchasing an additional 8,269 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 788.1% during the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 176,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,894,000 after buying an additional 156,935 shares during the period. Asset Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the second quarter. Asset Management Group Inc. now owns 6,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $838,000 after buying an additional 247 shares in the last quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the second quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 20,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after acquiring an additional 446 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,775,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $219,784,000 after purchasing an additional 61,677 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $117.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $117.85 and a 200-day moving average of $124.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $296.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) 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 during 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. The company’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

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.