Blue Trust Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,935 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,596 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,662,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock worth $24,979,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock worth $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock worth $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.24. The company had a trading volume of 33,825,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,060,298. The stock has a market cap of $198.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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