Lbp Am Sa Has $30.92 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lbp Am Sa cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 344,424 shares of the company's stock after selling 24,363 shares during the quarter. Lbp Am Sa's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $30,915,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $81.35 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $204.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $79.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $86.73. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $129.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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