Foster Group Inc. Has $258,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Foster Group Inc. lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 21.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,598 shares of the company’s stock after selling 689 shares during the period. Foster Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $258,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% in the 4th quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after acquiring an additional 362 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the period. Orca Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $759,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Finally, VCI Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $97.49 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $99.83 and a 200-day moving average of $108.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $246.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.