Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by TFR Capital LLC.

TFR Capital LLC. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 30.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 22,554 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 5,289 shares during the period. TFR Capital LLC.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,024,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered 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 Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $0.67 during trading hours 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $79.08 and a 200-day moving average of $86.40. The company has a market cap of $209.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s 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.