Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 108,775 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 6,112 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,388,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $464,000. United Advisor Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.3% in the fourth quarter. United Advisor Group LLC now owns 10,416 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,036,000 after purchasing an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Sunbeam Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $613,000. Finally, Challenger Wealth Management acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $271,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, hitting $77.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,867,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,568,652. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $81.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.15. The company has a market capitalization of $194.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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. declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.