Texas Yale Capital Corp. Has $3.33 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Key Points

• Texas Yale Capital Corp. has decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9%, owning 37,048 shares worth $3,325,000 after selling 3,640 shares in Q1.
• Several major institutional investors, including Wellington Management Group and Franklin Resources Inc., have increased their holdings in Merck, contributing to an overall institutional ownership of 76.07%.
• Merck's most recent earnings report showed a slight decline in revenue, down 1.6% year-over-year, but the company beat earnings estimates with $2.22 EPS against a consensus of $2.16.

Texas Yale Capital Corp. cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 37,048 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,640 shares during the quarter. Texas Yale Capital Corp.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,325,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Semus Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% during the first quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,039 shares of the company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the first quarter. Resolute Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 8,096 shares of the company's stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Cornerstone Advisory LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter. Cornerstone Advisory LLC now owns 13,441 shares of the company's stock worth $1,206,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the period. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the first quarter. Providence Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 10,995 shares of the company's stock worth $956,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the period. Finally, Empirical Finance LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% during the first quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 88,078 shares of the company's stock worth $7,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,077 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6%

MRK stock traded down $0.55 during trading on Monday, hitting $84.16. The company had a trading volume of 12,860,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,809,284. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $80.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.10. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $127.99. The stock has a market cap of $211.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.87, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Investors of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 10th. One investment 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

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.