Coastwise Capital Group LLC Has $1.10 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Coastwise Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 126.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,305 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,866 shares during the quarter. Coastwise Capital Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,104,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Heritage Investors Management Corp lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.0% in the first quarter. Heritage Investors Management Corp now owns 320,847 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,799,000 after acquiring an additional 15,236 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 58.9% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 93,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,384,000 after acquiring an additional 34,628 shares during the last quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.8% in the first quarter. WNY Asset Management LLC now owns 10,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $907,000 after acquiring an additional 1,740 shares during the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 29,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Aspen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $316,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.97 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.37 and a 200-day moving average of $85.79. The company has a market cap of $200.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39. 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. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $128.73.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company 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 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.

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