Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Sells 23,005 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC lessened its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 42,312 shares of the company’s stock after selling 23,005 shares during the period. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,798,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Wealth Network Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.6% during the 1st quarter. Independent Wealth Network Inc. now owns 3,641 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Mystic Asset Management Inc. now owns 25,333 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 1,382 shares in the last quarter. Hardy Reed LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 140.4% during the 1st quarter. Hardy Reed LLC now owns 16,061 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,442,000 after purchasing an additional 9,380 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the 1st quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 25,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,245,000 after purchasing an additional 1,343 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kingsview Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 203,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,262,000 after acquiring an additional 8,397 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $81.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.02. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $204.87 billion, a PE ratio of 11.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $128.73.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given 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 3.97%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.69.

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.