Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC Sells 4,572 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 17.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,572 shares during the quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on MRK. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $82.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $207.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $79.21 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $86.14. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $128.73.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

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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