Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Sells 10,301 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 161,018 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,301 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,453,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,540,000 after buying an additional 4,373 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% during the 4th quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 11,636 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,158,000 after buying an additional 1,239 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $398,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 1,020,503 shares of the company's stock valued at $101,520,000 after buying an additional 58,082 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $2.37 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $83.74. The stock had a trading volume of 18,390,570 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,368,539. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $79.09 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $210.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $129.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released 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 company 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, 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 was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.87%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to 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.