CENTRAL TRUST Co Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,234 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,730 shares during the period. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $80.97 on Tuesday. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $78.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $203.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.