Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Has $3.06 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 209.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,596 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,686 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,062,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. EdgeRock Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. New Millennium Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Horizons Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,134.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $108.22, for a total transaction of $541,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 20,284 shares in the company, valued at $2,195,134.48. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total value of $9,431,686.26. Following the sale, the insider now owns 29,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,312,555. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,245 shares of company stock worth $11,168,256. 0.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays lifted their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 20th. Credit Suisse Group lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Atlantic Securities lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. Finally, Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE MRK opened at $104.10 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $264.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $78.63 and a 52 week high of $115.49. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $108.19 and a 200-day moving average price of $102.25. The company has a quick ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.66 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.47% and a net margin of 24.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.80 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 51.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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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.