Sep 18, 2016

Tweet Staley Capital Advisers Inc. continued to hold its position in shares of Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,454 shares of the company’s stock at the end of the second quarter. Staley Capital Advisers Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co. were worth $314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing. Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Americafirst Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co. during the second quarter worth about $115,000. NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co. by 14.2% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 2,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. First New York Securities LLC NY acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co. during the second quarter worth about $121,000. Lowe fs LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co. by 1.8% in the second quarter. Lowe fs LLC now owns 2,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co. by 3.1% in the second quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 3,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 72.94% of the company’s stock. Shares of Merck & Co. ( NYSE:MRK ) traded down 0.16% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $62.28. 12,432,293 shares of the company were exchanged. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $61.95 and a 200 day moving average of $57.17. Merck & Co. has a 12-month low of $47.97 and a 12-month high of $64.00. The company has a market capitalization of $172.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.16 and a beta of 0.63. Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 29th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.02. The business earned $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 billion. Merck & Co. had a return on equity of 23.41% and a net margin of 13.01%. Merck & Co.’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.86 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co. will post $3.75 earnings per share for the current year. The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 15th will be paid a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 13th. Merck & Co.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.10%. A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Vetr upgraded shares of Merck & Co. from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $62.26 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, July 4th. Argus restated a “buy” rating on shares of Merck & Co. in a research note on Thursday, June 9th. Jefferies Group increased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co. from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 14th. Leerink Swann restated a “hold” rating and issued a $58.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co. in a research note on Thursday, July 14th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group AG restated a “hold” rating and issued a $59.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co. in a research note on Wednesday, July 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of €63.31 ($70.34). In other Merck & Co. news, EVP Clark Golestani sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of €63.03 ($70.03), for a total transaction of €189,090.00 ($210,100.00). The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink . Also, EVP Adam H. Schechter sold 39,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of €62.61 ($69.57), for a total value of €2,454,312.00 ($2,727,013.33). Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 39,200 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately €2,454,312 ($2,727,013.33). The disclosure for this sale can be found here . 0.05% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders. Merck & Co. Company Profile Merck & Co, Inc is a global healthcare company. The Company offers health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products, which it markets directly and through its joint ventures. It operates through one segment, Pharmaceutical. The Company’s Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products marketed either directly by the Company or through joint ventures. Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK). Receive News & Ratings for Merck & Co. 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