Tectonic Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tectonic Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 10.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 80,532 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,486 shares during the quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $0.84 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $81.59. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,977,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,444,116. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $86.14. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $128.73. 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 has a market capitalization of $204.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39.

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, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.