Foster Group Inc. Buys 363 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Foster Group Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,559 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the quarter. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. PFW Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $212,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the first quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 77,833 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,270,000 after acquiring an additional 4,433 shares during the period. Knuff & Co LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 145,574 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,870,000 after acquiring an additional 16,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patron Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 10,580 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,396,000 after acquiring an additional 222 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.99 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $118.45. 8,876,478 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,613,569. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $121.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $125.41. The stock has a market cap of $300.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.61, a PEG ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month 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.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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