Brown Advisory Inc. Sells 1,031,193 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Brown Advisory Inc. lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 44.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,289,465 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,031,193 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. owned about 0.05% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $115,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 11,636 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,158,000 after acquiring an additional 1,239 shares during the period. American Assets Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $398,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,020,503 shares of the company’s stock valued at $101,520,000 after acquiring an additional 58,082 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other 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 value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $80.89 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $129.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.