Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC Has $791,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,810 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,670 shares during the quarter. Bigelow Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $791,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,350,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,059,000 after purchasing an additional 3,125 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,042 shares of the company's stock worth $601,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered 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 set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered 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 issued 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 a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $79.26 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average of $78.85 and a 200-day moving average of $88.82. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $199.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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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