Founders Capital Management Acquires 728 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Founders Capital Management increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 45,282 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 3.1% of Founders Capital Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Founders Capital Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,142,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Waterloo Capital L.P. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $436,000. Connectus Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.6% during the fourth quarter. Connectus Wealth LLC now owns 91,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,979,000 after buying an additional 21,922 shares during the period. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 221,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,153,000 after purchasing an additional 9,169 shares during the period. XML Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. XML Financial LLC now owns 74,527 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,125,000 after purchasing an additional 2,002 shares during the period. Finally, Allen Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $2,375,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $134.42.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $108.59. The stock had a trading volume of 8,612,016 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,784,119. The company has a market cap of $275.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.69, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $115.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $123.67. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.84%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.