Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 7,983,193 shares of the company's stock after selling 214,494 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned approximately 0.32% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $716,571,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares during the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $398,000. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 19,787 shares of the company's stock worth $1,968,000 after purchasing an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IMG Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $200,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, 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. One investment 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $2.13 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $81.54. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,823,038 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,448,666. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $79.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.03. The firm has a market cap of $204.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.87, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio 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.