GAMMA Investing LLC Buys 4,289,516 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9,991.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,289,516 shares during the quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $388,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $76.86 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $193.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $90.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.