Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Integrated Investment Consultants LLC

Key Points

• Integrated Investment Consultants LLC significantly reduced its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 96.8%, selling 606,710 shares during the 1st quarter.
• Merck recently reported quarterly earnings of $2.22 EPS, exceeding expectations, but its revenue decreased by 1.6% year-over-year to $15.53 billion.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.81, with an annualized yield of 3.82%, set to be paid on October 7th.

Integrated Investment Consultants LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 96.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,883 shares of the company's stock after selling 606,710 shares during the quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,785,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Tilson Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company's stock valued at $446,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares in the last quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company's stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Forza Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the first quarter. Forza Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,761 shares of the company's stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered 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 issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $0.55 on Monday, reaching $84.16. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,860,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,809,284. The stock has a market capitalization of $211.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.25, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $127.99. The stock's 50-day moving average is $80.03 and its two-hundred day moving average is $85.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business 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 for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 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.