CORDA Investment Management LLC. Acquires 93,219 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

CORDA Investment Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 29.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 410,363 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 93,219 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 2.9% of CORDA Investment Management LLC.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. CORDA Investment Management LLC.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $36,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $83.35. 9,716,130 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,445,339. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.03. The company has a fifty day moving average of $79.08 and a 200 day moving average of $86.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a market cap of $209.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued 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 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The company's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. 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. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated 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. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.69.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.