Fox Run Management L.L.C. Makes New $721,000 Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fox Run Management L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 8,036 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $721,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.9%

NYSE:MRK opened at $84.35 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $120.30. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $81.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend yield of 3.8%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $107.44.

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.