Tredje AP fonden Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tredje AP fonden increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 908,422 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 49,400 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.1% of Tredje AP fonden’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Tredje AP fonden’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $112,463,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Argent Trust Co lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 180,047 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,290,000 after buying an additional 980 shares in the last quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.4% during the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co now owns 111,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,841,000 after acquiring an additional 26,725 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 764,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,626,000 after purchasing an additional 18,856 shares in the last quarter. True Vision MN LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $436,000. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the second quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Argus upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of MRK opened at $118.30 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $299.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $118.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $124.44. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current 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 dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.60%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 342.22%.

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.