Quattro Financial Advisors LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Quattro Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 50.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,000 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Quattro Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,346,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 166,895 shares of the company's stock worth $16,603,000 after purchasing an additional 19,719 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock worth $1,540,000 after purchasing an additional 4,373 shares during the last quarter. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,114,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $80.97. The stock had a trading volume of 7,734,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,282,113. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.05. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.39, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.