Farther Finance Advisors LLC Raises Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 60.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 40,160 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,185 shares during the quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Range Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 48.5% during the first quarter. Range Financial Group LLC now owns 4,767 shares of the company’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the first quarter. Portside Wealth Group LLC now owns 20,353 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,827,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.9% in the first quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 13,006 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,177,000 after buying an additional 1,789 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 521.5% in the first quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 3,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,000 after buying an additional 3,150 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the first quarter. Baldwin Wealth Partners LLC MA now owns 200,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,001,000 after buying an additional 3,794 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.4%

MRK stock opened at $79.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $199.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.