Aspetuck Financial Management LLC Invests $690,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Aspetuck Financial Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund purchased 7,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $690,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.7%

MRK stock opened at $79.74 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.05. The company has a market cap of $200.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $133.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

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

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

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.