Bank of New York Mellon Corp Sells 1,082,680 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 23,130,857 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,082,680 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp owned 0.92% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $2,076,226,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quilter Plc increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% in the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company's stock worth $7,309,000 after purchasing an additional 18,775 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company's stock worth $10,229,000 after purchasing an additional 25,997 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $80.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,774,999 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,292,090. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The company has a market capitalization of $203.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.15 and a 200 day moving average of $86.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio 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.