Fortitude Family Office LLC Sells 751 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Fortitude Family Office LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 18.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,422 shares of the company’s stock after selling 751 shares during the quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $307,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $26,350,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 13,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $80.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $78.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.57. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) 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 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.