Private Ocean LLC Buys 283 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Private Ocean LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,456 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 283 shares during the quarter. Private Ocean LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Burkett Financial Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $6.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $123.80. The stock had a trading volume of 57,055,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,215,418. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $99.14 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $313.56 billion, a PE ratio of 137.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $129.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $124.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $15.78 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 3.76% and a return on equity of 14.05%. The company’s revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.40 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 342.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. Berenberg Bank increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. TheStreet cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.