Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 135,781 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted 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 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 4th quarter valued at $26,350,000. Aries Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Aries Wealth Management now owns 26,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,669,000 after buying an additional 754 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE MRK opened at $81.68 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $78.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.30. The stock has a market cap of $205.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The company 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. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 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.