B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management Increases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 42,766 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,394 shares during the quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Focused Wealth Management Inc boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 8,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the period. Lane & Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Lane & Associates LLC now owns 4,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Cromwell Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 22.5% during the 1st quarter. Cromwell Holdings LLC now owns 7,473 shares of the company's stock valued at $677,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares during the period. Barry Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,523 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,134,000 after acquiring an additional 175 shares during the period. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 111.2% during the 1st quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 88,238 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,986,000 after acquiring an additional 46,455 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $83.35 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $209.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $129.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $79.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.49.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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 report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

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.

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