Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Lessened by Princeton Capital Management LLC

Princeton Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,192 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,234 shares during the quarter. Princeton Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,364,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,480,007 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $388,880,000 after buying an additional 4,289,516 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reiterated 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 lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded down $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $83.94. 1,765,680 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,837,362. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.77 billion, a PE ratio of 12.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $79.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $85.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $128.73. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, 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 will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 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.