Marietta Investment Partners LLC Sells 15,504 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 72.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,781 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,504 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the first quarter. Bell & Brown Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 43,668 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,920,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the first quarter. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ now owns 1,920,890 shares of the company’s stock valued at $172,419,000 after purchasing an additional 59,386 shares during the period. Syntax Research Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the first quarter. Syntax Research Inc. now owns 34,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,055,000 after purchasing an additional 719 shares during the period. Prospect Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the first quarter. Prospect Financial Group LLC now owns 2,988 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares during the period. Finally, Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $2,762,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8%

MRK stock opened at $84.82 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month 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. The firm has a market cap of $212.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average of $80.03 and a 200 day moving average of $85.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.