Hudock Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hudock Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 22.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 30,727 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 5,725 shares during the period. Hudock Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

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

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded down $1.22 on Friday, hitting $80.30. The company had a trading volume of 3,479,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,428,269. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $128.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $79.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $86.02. The stock has a market cap of $201.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.69, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.39.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

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.