Latko Wealth Management Ltd. Buys 219 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Latko Wealth Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,434 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 219 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.6% of Latko Wealth Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Latko Wealth Management Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,072,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,859 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.5%

MRK stock opened at $81.32 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $204.20 billion, a PE ratio of 12.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50 day moving average of $78.88 and a 200 day moving average of $89.64.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors 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 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

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.