Alpha Family Trust Has $373,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Key Points

• Alpha Family Trust reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.1%, holding $373,000 worth of shares after selling 3,020 shares in the first quarter.
• Research analysts have lowered several ratings for Merck, with Cantor Fitzgerald shifting from "overweight" to "cautious" and Morgan Stanley decreasing the target price to $98.00.
• Merck recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.8%.

Alpha Family Trust lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 42.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,155 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,020 shares during the quarter. Alpha Family Trust's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $84.35 on Monday. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $81.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.31. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $120.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.00, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.42 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.92 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 49.92%.

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.

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