Centre Asset Management LLC Buys New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Centre Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 55,132 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,949,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.46 on Friday, hitting $76.86. 20,636,762 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,616,357. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $80.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.78. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $193.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 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 the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.22%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

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

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.