Calamos Wealth Management LLC Sells 1,984 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Calamos Wealth Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,040 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,984 shares during the quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7%

MRK opened at $80.97 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $79.24 and a 200-day moving average price of $87.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during 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 firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

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.