Legacy Advisors LLC Has $1.67 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Legacy Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 18,464 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,668 shares during the period. Legacy Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $3,479,799,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,408,763,000 after acquiring an additional 5,550,824 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after acquiring an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $80.15 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $78.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.16. 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 firm has a market cap of $201.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.67, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during 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%. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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 given 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 4.04%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.