Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC Sells 365 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 21,737 shares of the company’s stock after selling 365 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,951,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wendell David Associates Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Wendell David Associates Inc. now owns 54,909 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,929,000 after purchasing an additional 4,740 shares in the last quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.9% in the first quarter. PKO Investment Management Joint Stock Co now owns 52,892 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,748,000 after buying an additional 10,216 shares in the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.2% during the first quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 3,962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the first quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 34,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,068,000 after buying an additional 1,294 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lesa Sroufe & Co purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $458,000. 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 the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $79.26 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.82. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $199.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.38. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend 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.