Cable Hill Partners LLC Purchases 162 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cable Hill Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 9,014 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the period. Cable Hill Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $768,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quilter Plc boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company’s stock worth $105,988,000 after purchasing an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,118,000 after buying an additional 6,850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% in the 4th 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 own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.5%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $81.54 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.14 and a 200 day moving average of $86.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $129.03. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (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 net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owned 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reissued 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.69.

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.