Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,213 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,969,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 145,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,054,000 after purchasing an additional 605 shares during the last quarter. Fortress Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth $254,000. Pines Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the first quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after buying an additional 154 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the first quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after buying an additional 176 shares during the period. Finally, IAM Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the first quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 18,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of MRK opened at $78.95 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $79.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion for 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective 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 two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.