Strategic Advisors LLC Sells 872 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Strategic Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,333 shares of the company’s stock after selling 872 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,350,000. Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 144,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,408,000 after acquiring an additional 9,767 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 91,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,731,000 after acquiring an additional 22,006 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $80.97 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $203.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $78.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.96.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.