Catalina Capital Group LLC Sells 7,753 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Catalina Capital Group LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 75.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,570 shares of the company's stock after selling 7,753 shares during the period. Catalina Capital Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $231,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 99.5% during the first quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 11,170 shares of the company's stock worth $1,003,000 after buying an additional 5,572 shares during the last quarter. Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $876,000. Harrell Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the first quarter. Harrell Investment Partners LLC now owns 59,487 shares of the company's stock worth $5,340,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares during the last quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% during the first quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 5,254 shares of the company's stock worth $472,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.7% during the first quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 121,591 shares of the company's stock worth $10,914,000 after buying an additional 19,118 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.05 on Friday, hitting $79.24. The company had a trading volume of 33,825,641 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,060,298. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.89 and a 200-day moving average of $88.52.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given 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 of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research 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 data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target 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.