Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by HBW Advisory Services LLC

HBW Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 438.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,390 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 21,491 shares during the period. HBW Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,350,000. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.2% during the 4th quarter. Clear Creek Financial Management LLC now owns 5,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $524,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.1% in the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,866 shares of the company's stock valued at $285,000 after purchasing an additional 728 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.67 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $77.60. The stock had a trading volume of 13,778,352 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,661,448. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $194.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock's 50 day moving average is $79.53 and its 200 day moving average is $90.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

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.