Ridgewood Investments LLC Purchases 5,929 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ridgewood Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 84.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,933 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,929 shares during the period. Ridgewood Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $84.82 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $128.73. 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 company has a market cap of $212.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $80.03 and its 200 day moving average is $85.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. 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.