Larson Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,746 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 11,644 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,927,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on MRK. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on 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. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price 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 report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.1%

MRK stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.45. 11,515,561 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,461,959. The stock has a market cap of $207.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $128.73. The firm's 50 day moving average is $79.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 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.