First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Acquires 33,378 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 67.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,216 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 33,378 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,469,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Napatree Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,601,000 after acquiring an additional 8,461 shares in the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company's stock worth $4,482,000 after acquiring an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,477,678 shares of the company's stock worth $146,546,000 after purchasing an additional 189,540 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $78.95 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.13 and a 200-day moving average of $89.83. The company has a market cap of $198.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 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.

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