JPB Foundation Has $21.33 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

JPB Foundation reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 172,317 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,000 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 2.3% of JPB Foundation’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. JPB Foundation’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,333,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Aveo Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Aveo Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,515 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after acquiring an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 692,943 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,545,000 after acquiring an additional 15,684 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 5,387,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $587,381,000 after purchasing an additional 360,688 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Portfolio Design Labs LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $1,161,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of MRK opened at $114.96 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $291.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $117.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors 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 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 5th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.