Sentinel Trust Co. LBA Sells 749 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sentinel Trust Co. LBA trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 17,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 749 shares during the quarter. Sentinel Trust Co. LBA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $83.35 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $209.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.40. 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 twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $129.03.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given 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 dividend yield of 3.89%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’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 owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.69.

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.