Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Rockline Wealth Management LLC

Rockline Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 56,857 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 963 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.4% of Rockline Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Rockline Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,103,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,309,000 after buying an additional 18,775 shares during the last quarter. Element Wealth LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,229,000 after buying an additional 25,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued 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, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $79.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $198.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $78.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $88.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. 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 quarterly 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.