Arvest Investments Inc. Acquires 6,765 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Arvest Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,316 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,765 shares during the quarter. Arvest Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Zhang Financial LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Zhang Financial LLC now owns 23,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,081,000 after acquiring an additional 702 shares during the last quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the first quarter. Baker Ellis Asset Management LLC now owns 13,268 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.5% during the first quarter. Magnolia Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $259,000 after buying an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% during the first quarter. Alpha Omega Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.3% in the first quarter. McKinley Carter Wealth Services Inc. now owns 22,676 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,035,000 after acquiring an additional 2,665 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $80.26 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $201.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $78.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.57.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on 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 dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.