Huntleigh Advisors Inc. Sells 8,090 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Huntleigh Advisors Inc. reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 68.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,731 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,090 shares during the quarter. Huntleigh Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 166,895 shares of the company's stock worth $16,603,000 after purchasing an additional 19,719 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock worth $1,540,000 after buying an additional 4,373 shares during the period. Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Inceptionr LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $1,114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.42 during trading on Friday, hitting $80.97. The company had a trading volume of 7,734,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,256,132. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $129.93. The business's 50-day moving average is $79.20 and its 200 day moving average is $87.05. The company has a market cap of $203.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Equities research analysts predict 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.19.

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.