OmniStar Financial Group Inc. Acquires 1,539 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

OmniStar Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 30.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,643 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,539 shares during the quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Point Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.0% in the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 23,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 4,258 shares during the period. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.0% in the third quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,386 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,188 shares during the period. Joule Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.1% in the third quarter. Joule Financial LLC now owns 3,814 shares of the company’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Sonoma Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the third quarter. Sonoma Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $939,000 after acquiring an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.1% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 17,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,997,000 after acquiring an additional 1,316 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Evercore ISI raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $150.00 to $145.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $108.70 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $114.31 and its 200 day moving average is $122.45. The company has a market cap of $275.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.78, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The company reported $2.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.87 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($2.06) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.88 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.83%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 342.22%.

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.