Massachusetts Wealth Management Has $1.97 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Massachusetts Wealth Management trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 21,899 shares of the company’s stock after selling 550 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $81.68 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $89.20. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $205.09 billion, a PE ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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. Citigroup reissued 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.19.

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.