Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. Reduces Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc. decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 22.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 23,439 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,626 shares during the quarter. Ramsay Stattman Vela & Price Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $108.69.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK traded down $0.67 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $83.35. 9,716,130 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,445,339. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market cap of $209.29 billion, a PE ratio of 12.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $129.03. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $79.08 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.