Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Main Street Research LLC

Main Street Research LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,230 shares of the company’s stock after selling 437 shares during the period. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $836,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Tilson Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company’s stock valued at $446,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.2%

NYSE MRK traded up $1.77 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $83.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,667,094 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,283,246. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market cap of $208.78 billion, a PE ratio of 12.12, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.73. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. 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 assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

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.