Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Alpha Cubed Investments LLC

Alpha Cubed Investments LLC reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 70.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 68,262 shares of the company's stock after selling 161,076 shares during the quarter. Alpha Cubed Investments LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,127,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded up $2.37 on Wednesday, reaching $83.74. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,390,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,368,354. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $79.06 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.71. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $129.93. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $210.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.19.

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.