Tritonpoint Wealth LLC Sells 10,058 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tritonpoint Wealth LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 99,543 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,058 shares during the quarter. Tritonpoint Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,017,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the first quarter. Stock Yards Bank & Trust Co. now owns 97,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,758,000 after acquiring an additional 276 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the first quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc. now owns 108,366 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,727,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares during the period. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 45.3% during the first quarter. Azzad Asset Management Inc. ADV now owns 80,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,224,000 after acquiring an additional 25,083 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the first quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 25,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after acquiring an additional 895 shares during the period. Finally, Pullen Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the first quarter. Pullen Investment Management LLC now owns 11,721 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,052,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $81.68 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $205.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $78.93 and a 200 day moving average of $89.30.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated 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 lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given 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.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.