Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC Purchases 257 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,225 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 257 shares during the quarter. Silvia Mccoll Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,350,000. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Gateway Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,423,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, 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 this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $76.35 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $191.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.34, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The business’s fifty day moving average is $80.42 and its 200 day moving average is $90.78. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.