Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Spirit of America Management Corp NY

Spirit of America Management Corp NY trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 21.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,250 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock worth $2,997,000 after purchasing an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company's stock worth $7,309,000 after buying an additional 18,775 shares during the last quarter. Element Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the company's stock worth $398,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 25,997 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded 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 assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity

In related 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $79.26 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $199.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $78.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $88.67.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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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