Dakota Wealth Management Has $3.22 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Dakota Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 35,831 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,766 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,216,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,540,000 after buying an additional 4,373 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $398,000. Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 19,787 shares of the company's stock worth $1,968,000 after acquiring an additional 497 shares during the period. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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, July 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $83.72 on Tuesday. 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. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $129.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $79.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

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.

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