Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Sells 1,414,814 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 21.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,044,840 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,414,814 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned 0.20% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $452,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% during the first quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 199,999 shares of the company's stock worth $17,952,000 after purchasing an additional 5,792 shares in the last quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.0% in the 1st quarter. Hexagon Capital Partners LLC now owns 10,581 shares of the company's stock valued at $950,000 after acquiring an additional 4,090 shares in the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at $108,000. Forte Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at about $224,000. Finally, Argentarii LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 89.7% in the 1st quarter. Argentarii LLC now owns 7,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $669,000 after buying an additional 3,523 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $2.37 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.74. The company had a trading volume of 18,390,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,368,539. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $129.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The business's 50 day moving average price is $79.09 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.73. The stock has a market cap of $210.27 billion, a PE ratio of 12.19, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. 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.