New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 93,982 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,171,602 shares of the company's stock after selling 93,982 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.09% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $194,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.93 on Monday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $198.20 billion, a PE ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $79.06 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $87.55. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.

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