Forsta AP Fonden Buys 75,300 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% during the 1st quarter, now holding 710,300 shares valued at approximately $63.76 million.
• Several hedge funds have also significantly increased their holdings in Merck, with Charles Schwab boosting its stake by 144.6%, now owning shares worth about $4.42 billion.
• Merck's recent earnings report showed an EPS of $2.13, exceeding estimates, but revenue came in slightly below expectations at $15.81 billion.

Forsta AP Fonden lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 710,300 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 75,300 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.5% of Forsta AP Fonden's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Forsta AP Fonden's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $63,757,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. American Assets Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $398,000. DRW Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 132.5% in the fourth quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 6,145 shares of the company's stock valued at $611,000 after purchasing an additional 3,502 shares in the last quarter. F M Investments LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. F M Investments LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the company's stock worth $2,805,000 after buying an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Finally, Redwood Park Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $257,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $0.36 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.73. 6,882,063 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,387,496. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $120.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.42. The company has a market cap of $201.65 billion, a PE ratio of 12.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.38. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $80.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $83.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a health care company, which engages in the provision of health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, animal health, and consumer care products. It operates through the following segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, and Other. The Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products.