Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH Has $131,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 98.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,313 shares of the company's stock after selling 77,861 shares during the period. Siemens Fonds Invest GmbH's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $131,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Napatree Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company's stock worth $5,601,000 after buying an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company's stock worth $4,482,000 after buying an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 632,355 shares of the company's stock worth $62,907,000 after buying an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other 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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6%

MRK stock traded up $0.46 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $76.86. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,636,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,594,132. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $193.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $80.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $90.58.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders 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 4.22%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.