B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 114,933 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,564 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $365,000. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company's stock worth $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,102 shares of the company's stock worth $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the period. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.4% during the fourth quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,051,976 shares of the company's stock worth $103,483,000 after purchasing an additional 275,056 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $75.92. 5,412,929 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,549,390. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $190.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The business has a fifty day moving average of $80.74 and a two-hundred day moving average of $90.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th 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 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This 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 link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reiterated 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 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.