Daymark Wealth Partners LLC Sells 134,066 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Daymark Wealth Partners LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 60.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 88,989 shares of the company's stock after selling 134,066 shares during the quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,057,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock worth $481,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company's stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company's stock worth $293,000 after acquiring an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lynx Investment Advisory increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company's stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9%

MRK traded down $0.73 during trading on Thursday, reaching $78.94. 13,735,255 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,138,041. The company's fifty day moving average price is $79.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.21 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $132.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target 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 research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.