Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV Has $5.51 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 24.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,396 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 11,023 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.1% of Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV's holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,511,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Omnia Family Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.1% during the 4th quarter. Omnia Family Wealth LLC now owns 4,147 shares of the company's stock valued at $416,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.2% during the fourth quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 8,178 shares of the company's stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 1,943 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $735,000. Finally, LifeWealth Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $259,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $76.17. The stock had a trading volume of 12,271,678 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,567,482. The company has a market cap of $191.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The business's fifty day moving average is $81.09 and its two-hundred day moving average is $91.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.