Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC Sells 9,254 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 43,709 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,254 shares during the quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,923,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Weinberger Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the period. Blue Barn Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $81.68 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.11. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $205.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.