Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. Acquires 3,561 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,725 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,561 shares during the quarter. Penobscot Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,566,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company's stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company's stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by 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 Merck & Co., Inc. 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.10 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $78.93. The stock had a trading volume of 60,171,714 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,155,543. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $79.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $87.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict 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. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio 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.