Capital Planning Advisors LLC Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Capital Planning Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.9%, holding 26,109 shares valued at approximately $2.34 million.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, representing an annualized amount of $3.24 and a dividend yield of 4.0%.
• Brokerages have lowered their price targets, with Wells Fargo reducing it from $97 to $90, reflecting a cautious outlook on Merck's stock performance.

Capital Planning Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 21.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,109 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,322 shares during the quarter. Capital Planning Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,344,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Semus Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 1st quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock valued at $452,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.4% during the 1st quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC now owns 19,376 shares of the company's stock worth $1,739,000 after buying an additional 3,282 shares in the last quarter. Quilter Plc lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after buying an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock worth $5,118,000 after buying an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $80.29. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,849,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,137,868. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $120.30. The company has a market capitalization of $200.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a current ratio of 1.42. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $80.88 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $83.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.03 by $0.10. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 25.79% and a return on equity of 41.05%. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 49.92%.

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.