Lipe & Dalton Trims Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lipe & Dalton trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,862 shares of the company’s stock after selling 697 shares during the period. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $975,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $398,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,261,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,449,000 after purchasing an additional 4,002 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,218,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,247,000 after purchasing an additional 280,776 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $0.48 during trading on Friday, hitting $81.04. 1,547,711 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,420,899. The company has a market capitalization of $203.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $128.73.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.