Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Sells 25,530 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 443,373 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,530 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $39,797,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quilter Plc raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.6% during the first quarter. Quilter Plc now owns 1,180,797 shares of the company's stock valued at $105,988,000 after buying an additional 62,933 shares during the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 56,566 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,118,000 after acquiring an additional 6,850 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,229,000 after acquiring an additional 25,997 shares during the period. Finally, Alta Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 18.0% during the first quarter. Alta Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 600 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered 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 set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8%

Shares of MRK stock traded up $0.71 on Friday, hitting $84.82. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,057,745 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,316,467. The stock has a market capitalization of $212.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.35, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $128.73. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $80.03 and its 200-day moving average price is $85.30.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The business's revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.