D.A. Davidson & CO. Sells 14,084 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

D.A. Davidson & CO. decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 551,950 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,084 shares during the period. D.A. Davidson & CO.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $49,543,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quilter Plc raised its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first 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. Napatree Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company's stock worth $7,309,000 after buying an additional 18,775 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company's stock worth $10,229,000 after buying an additional 25,997 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company'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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $1.42 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $80.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,734,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,256,132. The business's 50-day moving average price is $79.22 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.32. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.93. The stock has a market cap of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.