Cadinha & Co. LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cadinha & Co. LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 34.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 14,323 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,515 shares during the quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,286,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $3,479,799,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,408,763,000 after buying an additional 5,550,824 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,577,535 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,151,642,000 after buying an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $0.62 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $76.22. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,264,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,588,843. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $79.96 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $90.39. The company has a market cap of $191.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.