Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC Buys 5,099 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 10.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,697 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,099 shares during the period. Flagship Harbor Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,730,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC now owns 73,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,609,000 after buying an additional 3,934 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 81.3% during the 1st quarter. Hudson Value Partners LLC now owns 83,311 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,478,000 after buying an additional 37,347 shares during the last quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Ridgecrest Wealth Partners LLC now owns 10,898 shares of the company's stock valued at $978,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.2% in the 1st quarter. First Bancorp Inc ME now owns 4,830 shares of the company's stock worth $434,000 after purchasing an additional 638 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 453,139 shares of the company's stock worth $40,674,000 after purchasing an additional 2,348 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $78.94. The stock 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 P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm's 50 day moving average is $79.04 and its 200 day moving average is $87.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $132.29.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

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.