Procyon Advisors LLC Acquires 5,981 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 45,651 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,981 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,098,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7%

MRK traded up $1.33 during trading on Friday, reaching $78.95. 9,845,152 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,699,912. The company's fifty day moving average price is $79.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.