Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Has $230,000 Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 70.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,565 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,985 shares during the quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $230,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,350,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 140,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,978,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 566,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,197 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 3.2%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.36 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $78.90 and a 200-day moving average of $88.89. 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 $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.77 billion, a PE ratio of 11.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reissued 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. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

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.