Cox Capital Mgt LLC Cuts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cox Capital Mgt LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 63.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,745 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,592 shares during the quarter. Cox Capital Mgt LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Napatree Capital LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,601,000 after buying an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the fourth quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,482,000 after buying an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 632,355 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,907,000 after buying an additional 10,332 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $78.08. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,941,897 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,623,076. The company has a market cap of $196.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.60, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during 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 revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, 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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.