Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Montecito Bank & Trust

Montecito Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,916 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Montecito Bank & Trust’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $81.68 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $78.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.11. The firm has a market cap of $205.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 last year, the business posted $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.