Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Asset Management One Co. Ltd.

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,292,621 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 22,556 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. owned approximately 0.05% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $116,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Weinberger Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company's stock worth $293,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7%

MRK stock traded down $0.58 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $79.74. The company had a trading volume of 12,610,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,091,144. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $88.11. 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 company has a market capitalization of $200.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend 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.