Stonegate Investment Group LLC Boosts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 30,870 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,216 shares during the quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,771,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Perfromance Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth approximately $489,000. Advocate Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% in the first quarter. Advocate Group LLC now owns 85,295 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,656,000 after purchasing an additional 4,188 shares during the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the first quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 28,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,550,000 after buying an additional 492 shares in the last quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the first quarter. Rockline Wealth Management LLC now owns 56,857 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,103,000 after buying an additional 963 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Carret Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the first quarter. Carret Asset Management LLC now owns 82,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,370,000 after buying an additional 1,463 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The firm has a market cap of $198.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $78.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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 dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.19.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.