Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Dover Advisors LLC

Dover Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,594 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the quarter. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,350,000. Aries Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,669,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after buying an additional 350 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 Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $81.68 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.30. 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 company has a market capitalization of $205.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a PEG 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

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.