Procyon Advisors LLC Purchases 6,681 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Procyon Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.6% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 29,217 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,681 shares during the quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,452,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sharp Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $209,000. First National Corp MA ADV increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% during the third quarter. First National Corp MA ADV now owns 11,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,021,000 after buying an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the third quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,630 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,731,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Cassia Capital Partners LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.4% in the third quarter. Cassia Capital Partners LLC now owns 14,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 93.9% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 6,472 shares of the company’s stock worth $543,000 after acquiring an additional 3,134 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $92.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 2nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $112.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.4%

MRK stock opened at $110.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $112.90. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $101.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.68. The company has a market capitalization of $275.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.65, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.1%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 44.91%.

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

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.