Aspetuck Financial Management LLC Purchases Shares of 7,686 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Aspetuck Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 7,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,309,000 after acquiring an additional 18,775 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,229,000 after purchasing an additional 25,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 45,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,507,000 after purchasing an additional 6,378 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MRK opened at $79.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $133.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.05.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Citigroup restated 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. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.