Davis Investment Partners LLC Invests $658,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Davis Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 7,328 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $658,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $26,350,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 13,498 shares of the company's stock worth $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $365,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $81.74. 13,147,616 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,813,022. The company has a market cap of $205.25 billion, a PE ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $89.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.