Scott & Selber Inc. Sells 28,068 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Scott & Selber Inc. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 64.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 15,485 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,068 shares during the period. Scott & Selber Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $78.94 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $79.04 and a 200 day moving average of $87.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $132.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $198.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.49, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding MRK? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.