OneAscent Wealth Management LLC Sells 650 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

OneAscent Wealth Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,279 shares of the company’s stock after selling 650 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7%

NYSE MRK opened at $80.10 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $128.73. The company has a market cap of $201.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s fifty day moving average is $79.37 and its 200 day moving average is $85.70.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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 the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $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 announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded 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 issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. 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 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.