Net Worth Advisory Group Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Net Worth Advisory Group raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 15,004 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,441 shares during the period. Net Worth Advisory Group’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,347,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $80.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market cap of $201.55 billion, a PE ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.57. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.