Brookstone Capital Management Acquires 9,562 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Brookstone Capital Management grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 14.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 76,073 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,562 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,828,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company's stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company's stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $81.01. 6,512,062 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,256,841. The company's 50 day moving average is $79.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.42 billion, a PE ratio of 11.81, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. 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 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $129.93.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price 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 report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

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.