Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. Purchases 6,241 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 263,833 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,241 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $23,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, 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 this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $83.72 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $129.03.

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 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.