Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 212,759 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Private Advisor Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 41.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 305,036 shares of the company's stock after selling 212,759 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $27,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company's stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the first quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company's stock valued at $481,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Tilson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the first quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company's stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company's stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company's stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.49 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $79.48. 6,007,602 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,474,258. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.70. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $128.73. The firm has a market cap of $199.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.57, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for 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 company'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 business earned $2.07 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $108.69.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related 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 sale, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.