8,509 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Purchased by Efficient Advisors LLC

Efficient Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 8,509 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $764,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Citigroup reissued 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. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned 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 price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $84.82. 10,057,745 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,316,467. 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 fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $128.73. The company has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's fifty day moving average is $80.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.