Money Concepts Capital Corp Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Money Concepts Capital Corp boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 32,630 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the quarter. Money Concepts Capital Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,929,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Achmea Investment Management B.V. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the first quarter. Achmea Investment Management B.V. now owns 182,813 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,409,000 after buying an additional 14,980 shares in the last quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 108.0% in the 1st quarter. Philip James Wealth Mangement LLC now owns 94,076 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,444,000 after purchasing an additional 48,842 shares during the last quarter. Quilter Plc grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Paragon Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.1% during the 1st quarter. Paragon Capital Management Inc. now owns 17,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,615,000 after buying an additional 3,013 shares during the period. Finally, Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 30,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,761,000 after purchasing an additional 1,370 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $78.94 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $198.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $132.29. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.