Calamos Advisors LLC Sells 184,632 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Calamos Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 21.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 668,215 shares of the company's stock after selling 184,632 shares during the period. Calamos Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $59,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. MBA Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. MBA Advisors LLC now owns 4,543 shares of the company's stock valued at $408,000 after purchasing an additional 198 shares during the last quarter. Davidson Trust Co. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the first quarter. Davidson Trust Co. now owns 7,852 shares of the company's stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. North Capital Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth about $279,000. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,684 shares of the company's stock worth $331,000 after acquiring an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,066 shares of the company's stock worth $910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.42 on Friday, reaching $80.97. 7,734,538 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,282,113. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $129.93. The company has a market capitalization of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $79.20 and a 200 day moving average of $86.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.