Strategy Asset Managers LLC Has $5.55 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Strategy Asset Managers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,058 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,957 shares during the period. Strategy Asset Managers LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 48,690 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,028,000 after buying an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.9% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 13,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,654,000 after acquiring an additional 2,032 shares in the last quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Cozad Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,311,000 after purchasing an additional 687 shares in the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 28,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,559,000 after purchasing an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.8% during the 2nd quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 19,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,384,000 after purchasing an additional 3,452 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $1.67 on Wednesday, hitting $114.91. 1,518,198 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,564,836. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $99.14 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $120.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.04 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 current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($2.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Barclays cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target 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.