Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Exchange Bank

Exchange Bank lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 15,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 568 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.1% of Exchange Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Exchange Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth 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 during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $26,350,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 13,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,354,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares during the period. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $80.26 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $201.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50-day moving average is $78.86 and its 200-day moving average is $89.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results 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. The company 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 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.04%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.