9,933 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Purchased by Heck Capital Advisors LLC

Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 9,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $988,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Napatree Capital LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised 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 valued at $5,601,000 after buying an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% in the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,482,000 after buying an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in 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 buying an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the 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 approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $75.92. 5,412,929 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,549,390. The stock has a market capitalization of $190.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $80.74 and a 200 day moving average of $90.95. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 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.