Saturna Capital Corp Sells 800,259 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Saturna Capital Corp decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 84.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 145,223 shares of the company's stock after selling 800,259 shares during the period. Saturna Capital Corp's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares during the period. American Assets Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $398,000. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,261,044 shares of the company's stock valued at $125,449,000 after acquiring an additional 4,002 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 1,218,805 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,247,000 after acquiring an additional 280,776 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $1.55 during trading on Friday, hitting $79.97. 11,654,241 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,503,365. The company has a market capitalization of $200.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $128.73. The business's 50 day moving average is $79.37 and its 200-day moving average is $85.79. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 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 firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 10th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $108.69.

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.