SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

SS&H Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,780 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 3,418 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.5% of SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. SS&H Financial Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,930,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $97,000. Apella Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Apella Capital LLC now owns 10,855 shares of the company's stock worth $889,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385 shares in the last quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Triangle Securities Wealth Management now owns 14,338 shares of the company's stock worth $1,287,000 after purchasing an additional 759 shares in the last quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.4% in the 1st quarter. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc now owns 1,241,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $111,294,000 after acquiring an additional 235,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CGN Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 29,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,666,000 after buying an additional 2,735 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company 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 issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

MRK stock traded up $1.33 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $78.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,845,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,731,054. 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. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company's fifty day moving average price is $79.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a PEG 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 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.