Wealthfront Advisers LLC Trims Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wealthfront Advisers LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 34.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 161,179 shares of the company's stock after selling 83,701 shares during the quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,467,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $35,000. Spurstone Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This 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 link. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded up $0.93 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $82.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,515,561 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,440,964. The company has a 50-day moving average of $79.14 and a 200-day moving average of $86.16. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $129.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $207.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.