Parcion Private Wealth LLC Trims Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Parcion Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 16.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,134 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,098 shares during the period. Parcion Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.5% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,467,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,958,000 after buying an additional 1,121,878 shares in the last quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.2% during the first quarter. Tectonic Advisors LLC now owns 80,532 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,229,000 after acquiring an additional 7,486 shares during the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.3% during the first quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 43,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,927,000 after purchasing an additional 11,644 shares during the period. Summit Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.5% during the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the company's stock valued at $339,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Finally, PAX Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% during the first quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 4,398 shares of the company's stock valued at $395,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued 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 downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective 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 report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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 issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $0.94 on Friday, reaching $80.58. The company had a trading volume of 2,701,924 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,425,308. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $202.35 billion, a PE ratio of 11.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.39. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $79.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $86.02. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $128.73.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other 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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.