CapWealth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

CapWealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 230,364 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 15,770 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 2.2% of CapWealth Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. CapWealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $20,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 11,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $398,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,020,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,520,000 after acquiring an additional 58,082 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $2.39 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.76. The stock had a trading volume of 6,687,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,221,200. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $210.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $129.93. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.73.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.