Simplicity Wealth LLC Has $3 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 991.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 33,394 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares during the quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. West Paces Advisors Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.7% during the first quarter. West Paces Advisors Inc. now owns 21,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,892,000 after acquiring an additional 2,201 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 48,267 shares of the company's stock worth $4,332,000 after purchasing an additional 5,337 shares during the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 266,606 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,931,000 after purchasing an additional 35,754 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2,316.9% in the 1st quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 46,187 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,146,000 after purchasing an additional 44,276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Regatta Capital Group LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the first quarter. Regatta Capital Group LLC now owns 4,535 shares of the company's stock worth $407,000 after purchasing an additional 201 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut 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 assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $1.99 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $81.32. 13,242,716 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,755,306. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock's fifty day moving average is $78.98 and its 200 day moving average is $89.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $204.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.