Focus Financial Network Inc. Acquires 2,741 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Focus Financial Network Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 30.8% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,632 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,741 shares during the quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,464,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $3,108,366,000. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,714.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 6,023,853 shares of the company’s stock worth $794,847,000 after purchasing an additional 5,865,948 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 13,954,017 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,841,233,000 after purchasing an additional 5,627,923 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $724,776,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 36,682,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,966,029,000 after purchasing an additional 4,731,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4 %

MRK stock traded up $0.51 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $115.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,323,387 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,640,919. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $99.14 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $123.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $125.92. The company has a market cap of $292.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 128.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 41.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($2.06) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.04 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.66%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $148.00 to $142.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

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.