Aspen Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Aspen Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,519 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $398,000. 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $88,000. Washington Trust Bank lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Bank now owns 136,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,584,000 after acquiring an additional 3,428 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Global Investments lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.0% in the fourth quarter. Summit Global Investments now owns 200,024 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,898,000 after acquiring an additional 47,355 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $79.97 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $128.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $79.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 firm 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.

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