Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Reduces Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 6.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 161,018 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,301 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,453,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.6%

NYSE:MRK traded up $2.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $83.51. 6,079,947 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,292,921. 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 firm has a market cap of $209.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.13, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $129.93. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.73.

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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.88%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Insider Activity

In other 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 owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.