SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC Sells 3,993 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,127 shares of the company's stock after selling 3,993 shares during the quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,704,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. One research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $1.33 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $78.95. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,845,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,699,912. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $79.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $89.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.