Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,000 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,572 shares during the period. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,885,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $398,000. Horizon Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 30,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,073,000 after acquiring an additional 2,621 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Evoke Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 18,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after acquiring an additional 4,303 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered 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 issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.1%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $82.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $207.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $86.14. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $128.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Equities analysts predict 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 was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.