Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. Purchases 13,382 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 290,556 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 13,382 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.5% of Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $26,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $81.68. The company had a trading volume of 14,549,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,851,201. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $78.87 and a 200 day moving average of $89.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $205.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

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, 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

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.