Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 522,450 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 51,675 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.0% of Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $64,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Aveo Capital Partners LLC raised its position in 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 in the last quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.5% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,436,000 after purchasing an additional 6,421 shares during the last quarter. Calton & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $445,000. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,955 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arcataur Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 3,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Wolfe Research upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Barclays cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

MRK stock traded down $0.75 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $117.84. The stock had a trading volume of 8,577,276 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,621,607. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $119.93 and a 200 day moving average of $125.09. 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 $298.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 130.97, a PEG ratio of 1.64 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 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($2.06) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 342.22%.

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.