Versant Capital Management Inc Acquires 6,221 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 265.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,566 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $769,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Napatree Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,601,000 after buying an additional 8,461 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,482,000 after acquiring an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 632,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,907,000 after acquiring an additional 10,332 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.2%

MRK opened at $76.35 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $80.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.78. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $191.71 billion, a PE ratio of 11.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.