Harrell Investment Partners LLC Purchases 1,232 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Harrell Investment Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 59,487 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,232 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.6% of Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Harrell Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,340,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,350,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,059,000 after buying an additional 3,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. 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 the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $79.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $199.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $88.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.