Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC Decreases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.1% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,734 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.0% of Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Trivant Custom Portfolio Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Blue Barn Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company’s stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after buying an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research 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 reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed 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. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $79.26 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $78.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.82. The stock has a market cap of $199.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 0.81 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. 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.