Unigestion Holding SA Buys 30,778 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Unigestion Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 127.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,996 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 30,778 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,936,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the first quarter. Bridge Creek Capital Management LLC now owns 21,003 shares of the company's stock worth $1,885,000 after purchasing an additional 760 shares during the last quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the first quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 150,158 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,478,000 after purchasing an additional 2,321 shares during the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 90.9% during the first quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 63,569 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,706,000 after purchasing an additional 30,274 shares in the last quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 438.7% in the 1st quarter. HBW Advisory Services LLC now owns 26,390 shares of the company's stock worth $2,369,000 after purchasing an additional 21,491 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.6% in the 1st quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 89,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,057,000 after buying an additional 21,038 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.5%

Shares of MRK stock traded up $1.14 on Wednesday, hitting $78.28. 12,998,659 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,632,095. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $79.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $90.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.