Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA

Key Points

• Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7%, now owning 100,433 shares valued at approximately $9,015,000.
• Merck's recent earnings report showed $2.22 earnings per share, beating estimates, but a 1.6% decrease in revenue year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81, with a dividend yield of 3.82%, payable on October 7th.

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 14.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,433 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 12,891 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.5% of Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,015,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,240.9% during the first quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 5,286,801 shares of the company's stock worth $474,543,000 after purchasing an additional 5,060,959 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,642,000 after acquiring an additional 4,480,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock worth $388,880,000 after acquiring an additional 4,289,516 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded down $3.23 during trading on Thursday, hitting $78.52. The company had a trading volume of 8,302,411 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,830,848. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $84.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $120.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $197.18 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. The company had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

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.