Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Patten & Patten Inc. TN

Patten & Patten Inc. TN reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 3.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,050 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,460 shares during the period. Patten & Patten Inc. TN's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,776,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wincap Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.4% in the first quarter. Wincap Financial LLC now owns 11,063 shares of the company's stock valued at $993,000 after acquiring an additional 1,719 shares in the last quarter. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $48,000. New Republic Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.8% in the first quarter. New Republic Capital LLC now owns 5,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 385 shares in the last quarter. Schubert & Co boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.3% in the first quarter. Schubert & Co now owns 3,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after acquiring an additional 662 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.0% in the first quarter. Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC now owns 2,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $241,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 value of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.42 on Friday, hitting $80.97. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,734,538 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,282,113. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $129.93. The company has a market capitalization of $203.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $79.20 and a 200-day moving average of $87.05.

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 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 company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

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.