Alley Investment Management Company LLC Has $4.60 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Alley Investment Management Company LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 51.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 51,258 shares of the company's stock after selling 53,729 shares during the period. Alley Investment Management Company LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,601,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup restated 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 issued 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 stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.55 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $82.36. The company had a trading volume of 16,050,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,210,938. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $79.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $87.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $129.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $206.81 billion, a PE ratio of 11.99, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released 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. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other 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 value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.