Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC Sells 19,524 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 75.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 6,257 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,524 shares during the period. Beverly Hills Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $562,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.0%

Shares of MRK opened at $80.89 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $79.15 and its 200-day moving average is $86.77. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.93. 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 market capitalization of $203.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.