Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Beacon Financial Advisory LLC

Beacon Financial Advisory LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,252 shares of the company’s stock after selling 222 shares during the quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $471,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC now owns 85,770 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,532,000 after buying an additional 4,033 shares during the last quarter. Whipplewood Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $157,000. Nwam LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Nwam LLC now owns 13,584 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,351,000 after buying an additional 142 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,584.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,075,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,996,000 after buying an additional 1,064,443 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned 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.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.93 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $79.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $87.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $130.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate 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.