PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co Increases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 52,892 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,216 shares during the quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,748,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $26,350,000. Congress Asset Management Co. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% in the 4th quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 144,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,408,000 after purchasing an additional 9,767 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 91,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,731,000 after purchasing an additional 22,006 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Wall Street Zen cut 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 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $80.97 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. The firm has a market cap of $203.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.96.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.