NBT Bank N A NY Sells 2,337 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

NBT Bank N A NY reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 59,967 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,337 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.0% of NBT Bank N A NY’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. NBT Bank N A NY’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,653,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Legend Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 93 shares during the period. Finally, Hanseatic Management Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 72.89% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. SVB Leerink increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $120.00 to $115.00 in a report on Monday, March 13th. Societe Generale lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.75.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE MRK traded down $0.97 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $111.33. The stock had a trading volume of 3,174,123 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,769,868. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $83.05 and a 1 year high of $119.65. The stock has a market cap of $282.49 billion, a PE ratio of 21.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $138.53 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a current ratio of 1.44 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 27th. The company reported $1.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.34 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 22.52% and a return on equity of 37.92%. The company had revenue of $14.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.81 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 6.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.73 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, June 14th. This represents a $2.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.03%.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 134,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $115.07, for a total transaction of $15,425,708.85. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, VP Rita A. Karachun sold 15,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.53, for a total value of $1,865,788.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 45,710 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,372,296.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Sanat Chattopadhyay sold 134,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.07, for a total value of $15,425,708.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 488,258 shares of company stock worth $56,481,018. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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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.