Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC

Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 52,961 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,861 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,754,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $398,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,556.0% during the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 6,285,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $625,322,000 after purchasing an additional 629,303 shares in the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 546,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,375,000 after purchasing an additional 207,497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price target 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $84.82 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $80.03 and its 200 day moving average price is $85.10. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $128.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a PE ratio of 12.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.