Chemung Canal Trust Co. Sells 8,812 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 15.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 47,192 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,812 shares during the period. Chemung Canal Trust Co.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,236,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $1,151,642,000 after acquiring an additional 4,480,007 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,991.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,332,446 shares of the company's stock worth $388,880,000 after acquiring an additional 4,289,516 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 available at the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.35. 9,716,130 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,419,646. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.93. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $79.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.89%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.69.

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.