Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Reduces Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,368 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,001 shares during the quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $572,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares during the period. Napatree Capital LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,309,000 after acquiring an additional 18,775 shares during the period. Element Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,229,000 after purchasing an additional 25,997 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $80.97 on Tuesday. 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 market cap of $203.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $88.96.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect 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, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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