GAMMA Investing LLC Acquires 5,337 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,267 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,337 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,332,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 60,171,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,155,543. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $79.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.64. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41.

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 the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.