Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc.

McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 37.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,063 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,110 shares during the period. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $81.26. 3,811,087 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,245,771. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.04 billion, a PE ratio of 11.85, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.20 and a 200 day moving average of $86.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.93. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 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.