27,904 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Purchased by Brooklyn FI LLC

Brooklyn FI LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 27,904 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,877,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1%

MRK traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, hitting $77.50. The company had a trading volume of 11,867,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,568,652. The firm has a market cap of $194.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company's fifty day moving average price is $81.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $91.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.