Foundry Partners LLC Acquires 12,304 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Foundry Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.6% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 140,380 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,304 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.9% of Foundry Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Foundry Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $17,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Clear Investment Research LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Finally, Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of MRK traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $119.18. 1,366,885 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,580,182. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $120.04 and its 200-day moving average is $125.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.47, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $301.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.58%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, August 29th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.