Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Buys 156,935 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 788.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 176,849 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 156,935 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,894,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Industrial Alliance Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $421,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. IRON Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the second quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 1,811 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Argent Capital Management LLC now owns 10,521 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the second quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,480 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,297,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Investment Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the second quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 4,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Bank of America cut 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective 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. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $134.58.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $117.17 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $99.14 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a 50-day moving average of $117.85 and a 200 day moving average of $124.31. The firm has a market cap of $296.77 billion, a PE ratio of 130.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 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.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 21.99% and a return on equity of 40.69%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 2.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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.