Independence Bank of Kentucky Has $3.65 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Independence Bank of Kentucky reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 40,647 shares of the company’s stock after selling 981 shares during the period. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,648,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Napatree Capital LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,601,000 after purchasing an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 22,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 632,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,907,000 after purchasing an additional 10,332 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $78.95 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $79.13 and a 200-day moving average price of $89.96. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. 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 research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.19.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.