Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI Increases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,061,531 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 201,721 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.1% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $131,418,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Roble Belko & Company Inc grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.3% during the 1st quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

MRK opened at $114.96 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $291.17 billion, a PE ratio of 127.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $117.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $124.20. 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. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.87 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 40.69% and a net margin of 21.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($2.06) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Evercore ISI raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $132.00 to $134.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Argus raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $145.00 to $142.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $134.58.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.