KG&L Capital Management LLC Sells 634 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

KG&L Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,919 shares of the company’s stock after selling 634 shares during the quarter. KG&L Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $894,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. 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 an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.74 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $200.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $133.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $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. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.06%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.