Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 545,828 shares of the company's stock after selling 50,457 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.2% of Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $48,994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% in the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company's stock worth $7,309,000 after acquiring an additional 18,775 shares in the last quarter. Element Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% in the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company's stock worth $10,229,000 after acquiring an additional 25,997 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9%

MRK traded down $0.75 on Monday, hitting $80.97. The company had a trading volume of 12,565,388 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,872,114. The firm has a market cap of $203.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.03, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company's fifty day moving average price is $78.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $89.11. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm 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 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. 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. Citigroup reaffirmed 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. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.