Golden State Wealth Management LLC Buys 10,113 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 145.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,073 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 10,113 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,533,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup reissued 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. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.94. The company's stock had a trading volume of 13,735,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,119,442. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $133.43. The stock has a market cap of $198.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. 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. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.