Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 8,292 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 280,249 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,292 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $25,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Peterson Wealth Services lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 4,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Center for Financial Planning Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 14,805 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Finally, Weinberger Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,000 after buying an additional 129 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $79.30 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $89.69. The stock has a market cap of $199.12 billion, a PE ratio of 11.78, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 25th. The stock was 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 owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.