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

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

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded down $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.97. 7,734,538 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,282,113. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $79.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $87.05. 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. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $129.93. The company has a market cap of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

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.