14,013 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Bought by Alpine Bank Wealth Management

Alpine Bank Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 14,013 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,258,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the first quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 50,728 shares of the company's stock worth $4,553,000 after buying an additional 1,783 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 145.3% in the first quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,073 shares of the company's stock worth $1,533,000 after acquiring an additional 10,113 shares during the period. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 598.9% during the first quarter. Aurora Private Wealth Inc. now owns 72,404 shares of the company's stock worth $6,499,000 after purchasing an additional 62,045 shares during the last quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the first quarter. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. now owns 44,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,023,000 after purchasing an additional 5,426 shares during the period. Finally, Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the first quarter. Independent Solutions Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 896 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded 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 issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,735,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,138,041. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $132.29. The company has a market capitalization of $198.21 billion, a PE ratio of 10.23, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.05.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. 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.