Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stake Raised by Avantax Planning Partners Inc.

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 14.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 92,798 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,394 shares during the quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,330,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock worth $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,642,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 company's 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 directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.15 during trading on Monday, hitting $81.08. The stock had a trading volume of 1,810,863 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,237,347. 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 firm has a market cap of $203.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.80, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $79.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during 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 company's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.