Boston Trust Walden Corp Sells 30,447 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Boston Trust Walden Corp lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 603,176 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,447 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $54,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock worth $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock worth $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock worth $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock worth $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE MRK traded down $0.05 during trading on Friday, reaching $79.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 33,825,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,060,298. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $198.98 billion, a PE ratio of 11.53, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $78.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $88.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

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 (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s 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 business's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.