Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Lessened by Wesbanco Bank Inc.

Wesbanco Bank Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 356,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,960 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.1% of Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Wesbanco Bank Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $31,996,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Werlinich Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 28,120 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 67.0% during the first quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 83,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,469,000 after buying an additional 33,378 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.2% during the first quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 14,335 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,287,000 after acquiring an additional 2,310 shares during the period. Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% in the first quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 336,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,244,000 after acquiring an additional 16,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hickory Point Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust now owns 10,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $900,000 after acquiring an additional 239 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.95 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $79.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.83. The company has a market cap of $198.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. 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. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

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.