Live Oak Private Wealth LLC Purchases 3,934 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 73,628 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,934 shares during the quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,609,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company's stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company's stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9%

MRK stock traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.94. The company had a trading volume of 13,735,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,138,041. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $132.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.88. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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 period in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue 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. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reissued 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 downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

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.