Orrstown Financial Services Inc. Has $741,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Orrstown Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,257 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Orrstown Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $26,350,000. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp now owns 4,715 shares of the company’s stock worth $469,000 after purchasing an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $2,990,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $78.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $198.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $79.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.91.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One research 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

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.