SteelPeak Wealth LLC Raises Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

SteelPeak Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 111.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 88,238 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 46,455 shares during the quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,986,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock worth $1,151,642,000 after purchasing an additional 4,480,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock worth $388,880,000 after purchasing an additional 4,289,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. 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. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.69.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

MRK traded down $0.67 on Friday, hitting $83.35. The company had a trading volume of 9,716,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,445,339. The firm has a market cap of $209.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $129.03. The company's fifty day moving average price is $79.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.