Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Destiny Wealth Partners LLC

Destiny Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,105 shares of the company’s stock after selling 610 shares during the period. Destiny Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were 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 now directly owns 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 filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $78.95 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. 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.