Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Has $45.91 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 511,415 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,174 shares during the quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $45,905,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $76.86 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50-day moving average of $80.20 and a 200-day moving average of $90.58. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $193.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

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.