Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Little House Capital LLC

Little House Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,928 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 697 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,238,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289,516 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $78.93 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $198.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. 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 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $130.97. The business’s 50 day moving average is $79.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $87.73.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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 business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.