Hennessy Advisors Inc. Has $11.10 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 90.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,650 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 58,700 shares during the period. Hennessy Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,859 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $81.68. 14,549,536 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,873,348. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $78.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.