Ridgewood Investments LLC Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 84.7%, acquiring an additional 5,929 shares during the first quarter, raising its total to 12,933 shares valued at approximately $1,084,000.
• Merck & Co. recently reported earnings of $2.22 per share for the quarter, surpassing estimates, although revenue decreased by 1.6% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, representing a 3.82% annual yield, with payment scheduled for October 7th.

Ridgewood Investments LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 84.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,933 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,929 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,084,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $398,000. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 187,219 shares of the company's stock worth $18,625,000 after purchasing an additional 55,795 shares in the last quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,756,233 shares of the company's stock worth $174,710,000 after purchasing an additional 240,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RiverFront Investment Group LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 13,089 shares of the company's stock worth $1,302,000 after purchasing an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $3.22 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $78.54. 9,322,478 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,838,211. The stock has a market cap of $197.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $80.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $84.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $120.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.63%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.13%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 49.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued 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 $107.44.

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.