Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 167,191 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,174 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 1.2% of Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $15,008,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE MRK traded up $0.46 during trading on Friday, hitting $76.86. The stock had a trading volume of 20,636,762 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,616,358. The company has a market capitalization of $193.00 billion, a PE ratio of 11.42, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $80.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.63. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.