Independent Advisor Alliance Sells 3,124 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Independent Advisor Alliance reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6%, selling 3,124 shares, leaving them with a total of 64,223 shares worth approximately $5.77 million.
• Major institutional investors increased their holdings in Merck during the 4th quarter, with a total of 76.07% of the stock now owned by such entities.
• Merck recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.81, representing an annualized yield of 4.0%, with a payout ratio of nearly 50%.

Independent Advisor Alliance lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 64,223 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,124 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,765,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth $36,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Minot DeBlois Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $97.00 to $90.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $107.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.3%

NYSE:MRK traded up $0.26 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $80.29. 7,849,343 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,137,868. The stock has a market capitalization of $200.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $120.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $83.72.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The company reported $2.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.03 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $15.81 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.92 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 25.79%. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 49.92%.

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.