JPL Wealth Management LLC Buys 17,518 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

JPL Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 409.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,792 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,518 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,134.9% during the 1st quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 90,145 shares of the company's stock worth $8,091,000 after acquiring an additional 82,845 shares during the last quarter. Next Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 4,367 shares of the company's stock worth $392,000 after buying an additional 254 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Close Asset Management Ltd now owns 11,414 shares of the company's stock worth $1,024,000 after buying an additional 1,420 shares during the period. Forbes J M & Co. LLP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 167,924 shares of the company's stock worth $15,073,000 after buying an additional 2,567 shares during the period. Finally, SYM FINANCIAL Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 90.8% during the 1st quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 5,467 shares of the company's stock worth $491,000 after buying an additional 2,601 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.71 on Friday, reaching $84.82. The stock had a trading volume of 9,860,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,814,263. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $128.73. The company has a market cap of $212.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.39. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $79.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.42.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

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.