Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Formidable Asset Management LLC

Formidable Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 23.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,248 shares of the company's stock after selling 5,004 shares during the quarter. Formidable Asset Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quilter Plc boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock worth $105,988,000 after acquiring an additional 62,933 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 30,335 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock worth $5,118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 25,997 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.9%

MRK stock traded down $1.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $79.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,654,241 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,503,365. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $128.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $200.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.89.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 4.05%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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 analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

Insider Activity

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

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.