City Holding Co. Sells 6,688 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

City Holding Co. lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 28.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,672 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,688 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,496,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. 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. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $78.95 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business's 50 day moving average is $79.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

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.

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