Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 17.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,640,300 shares of the company's stock after selling 338,600 shares during the quarter. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt owned approximately 0.07% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $147,135,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 136.5% during the 1st quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 2,626,227 shares of the company's stock worth $256,428,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515,855 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the first quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH now owns 2,226,669 shares of the company's stock worth $199,866,000 after purchasing an additional 35,075 shares during the period. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.5% during the first quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 137,005 shares of the company's stock worth $12,298,000 after buying an additional 23,355 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% during the first quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 13,389 shares of the company's stock worth $1,202,000 after buying an additional 1,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFG Advisors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.1% in the 1st quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 31,653 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,841,000 after buying an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $2.39 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $81.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,556,258 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,520,750. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $79.37 and its 200-day simple moving average is $85.70. The company has a market capitalization of $205.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.89, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $128.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.