Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,285,677 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 72,944 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.29% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $653,962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. NewEdge Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 85,770 shares of the company's stock worth $8,532,000 after acquiring an additional 4,033 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $157,000. Nwam LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 13,584 shares of the company's stock worth $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,584.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,075,549 shares of the company's stock worth $106,996,000 after purchasing an additional 1,064,443 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.1%

MRK stock opened at $78.93 on Friday. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $130.97. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $79.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.73. The stock has a market cap of $198.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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