Castle Wealth Management LLC Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Castle Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,049 shares of the company’s stock after selling 453 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $276,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $82.36 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $206.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $79.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.32. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.