First Bank & Trust Lowers Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Bank & Trust cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,566 shares of the company’s stock after selling 790 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after acquiring an additional 4,480,007 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,880,000 after acquiring an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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 dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of MRK opened at $81.75 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $129.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.35. The firm has a market cap of $205.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.90, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.