Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 534,391 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,411 shares during the quarter. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $47,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,350,000. Focus Financial Network Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 13,498 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,354,000 after acquiring an additional 2,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $365,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.42 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $81.74. The stock had a trading volume of 13,147,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,813,022. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $205.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $89.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.