Perkins Coie Trust Co Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,021 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 136 shares during the period. Perkins Coie Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Godsey & Gibb Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% during the first quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 208,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,682,000 after buying an additional 22,125 shares during the period. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the first quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 85,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,687,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% during the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 615,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,253,000 after buying an additional 61,003 shares during the period. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,135 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the period. Finally, Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.3% during the first quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 44,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,969,000 after buying an additional 2,228 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $78.95 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.13 and a 200 day moving average of $89.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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.