Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 17,730 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 44.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,774 shares of the company's stock after selling 17,730 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,955,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,000. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target 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 research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $81.35 on Wednesday. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $204.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The business's revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.09% 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.

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