Flavin Financial Services Inc. Acquires 860 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Flavin Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 17,546 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 860 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.4% of Flavin Financial Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Flavin Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,575,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 27,181 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,704,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $516,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 71.4% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 44,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,450,000 after purchasing an additional 18,482 shares during the period. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $1,714,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $79.74 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $133.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $88.05.

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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.