FORA Capital LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

FORA Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 52,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,004,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. IRON Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares during the period. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company's stock worth $1,297,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bennett Associates Wealth Management raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 2nd quarter. Bennett Associates Wealth Management now owns 1,928 shares of the company's stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $136.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.86.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $103.04. 9,800,233 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,134,905. The stock has a market cap of $260.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $117.24. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.14%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.57%.

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.