Baugh & Associates LLC Buys 10,094 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Baugh & Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 19.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,897 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,094 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.6% of Baugh & Associates LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Baugh & Associates LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,195,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.1% in the 1st quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,075 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,084,000 after acquiring an additional 3,516 shares in the last quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.6% in the first quarter. Goldstein Advisors LLC now owns 3,659 shares of the company's stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the period. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.8% in the first quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. now owns 39,725 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,566,000 after purchasing an additional 3,561 shares in the last quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% during the first quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. now owns 17,546 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,575,000 after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 216.9% during the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 16,096 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,445,000 after purchasing an additional 11,017 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.73 on Thursday, reaching $78.94. The stock had a trading volume of 13,735,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,119,483. The business's 50 day moving average is $79.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $133.43. The company has a market cap of $198.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

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, 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.