Cullinan Associates Inc. Has $4.07 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cullinan Associates Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,319 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the period. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,068,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the period. Weinberger Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the period. Blue Barn Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1%

MRK opened at $79.24 on Friday. The firm has a market cap 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.89 and a 200 day moving average of $88.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.