Woodstock Corp Acquires 1,700 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Woodstock Corp increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 129,205 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.9% of Woodstock Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Woodstock Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,335,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 224,134,448 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,302,459,000 after acquiring an additional 3,081,402 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,079,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,468,037,000 after acquiring an additional 1,077,042 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the second quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 29,949,687 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,730,513,000 after acquiring an additional 214,082 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 53.8% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 22,349,549 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,037,608,000 after acquiring an additional 7,816,470 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.2% during the second quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 17,026,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,552,347,000 after acquiring an additional 2,111,477 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.89% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 3.0 %

MRK opened at $104.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 1.47 and a quick ratio of 1.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $264.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.95 and a beta of 0.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $78.63 and a fifty-two week high of $115.49. The company’s 50-day moving average is $108.19 and its 200 day moving average is $102.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 2nd. The company reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.56 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.66 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 24.49% and a return on equity of 43.47%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.88 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be paid a $0.73 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. This represents a $2.92 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.80%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 51.14%.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total value of $9,431,686.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,555. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 83,994 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $112.29, for a total transaction of $9,431,686.26. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,312,555. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 4,436 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $104.25, for a total transaction of $462,453.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 39,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,159,575. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 100,245 shares of company stock worth $11,168,256. Insiders own 0.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Credit Suisse Group upped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $115.00 in a research report on Monday, March 13th. Bank of America raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating and a $125.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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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.