Global Financial Private Client LLC Buys 9,750 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Global Financial Private Client LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 47.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,493 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,750 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.0% of Global Financial Private Client LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Global Financial Private Client LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Welch Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Welch Group LLC now owns 31,867 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,844,000 after purchasing an additional 1,204 shares during the last quarter. First County Bank CT grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. First County Bank CT now owns 18,185 shares of the company's stock worth $1,632,000 after acquiring an additional 836 shares during the last quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 102,553 shares of the company's stock worth $9,205,000 after acquiring an additional 2,433 shares during the last quarter. Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,225 shares of the company's stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GoalVest Advisory LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.4% during the 1st quarter. GoalVest Advisory LLC now owns 14,287 shares of the company's stock worth $1,282,000 after acquiring an additional 4,256 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.46 on Friday, reaching $76.86. 20,636,762 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,616,358. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $193.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $80.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.63. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.