Brookwood Investment Group LLC Purchases Shares of 9,990 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Brookwood Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 9,990 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $897,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock worth $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $388,880,000 after acquiring an additional 4,289,516 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.82. 10,057,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,316,467. The firm's fifty day moving average is $80.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.30. The company has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $128.73. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

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.