Sava Infond d.o.o. Has $3.13 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sava Infond d.o.o. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 13.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 34,870 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the period. Sava Infond d.o.o.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the first quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Weinberger Asset Management Inc raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company's stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Blue Barn Wealth LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company's stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $80.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $201.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $78.91 and a 200 day moving average of $88.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid 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 4.04%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 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.

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