Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC Sells 426 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 35,840 shares of the company’s stock after selling 426 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,217,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Peterson Wealth Services lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 14,805 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Focused Wealth Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Focused Wealth Management Inc now owns 7,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $748,000 after purchasing an additional 128 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.95 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.13 and a 200-day moving average of $89.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $198.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be given 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 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen lowered 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 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.