Founders Financial Securities LLC Purchases 3,452 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Founders Financial Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 21.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,254 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,452 shares during the quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 217,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,946,000 after purchasing an additional 865 shares during the last quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the second quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 7,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the last quarter. Next Level Private LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the second quarter. Next Level Private LLC now owns 25,847 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,200,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,074,000. Finally, Naviter Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 21,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,642,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $116.58 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $120.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $125.27. The firm has a market cap of $295.27 billion, a PE ratio of 129.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($2.06) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter 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 fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.64%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price 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.