Spire Wealth Management Sells 2,904 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Spire Wealth Management reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,904 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,644,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $79.74 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $133.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.23 billion, a PE ratio of 11.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $88.05.

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 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company 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 dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.06%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.