Buffington Mohr McNeal Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Buffington Mohr McNeal decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 21.7% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 61,540 shares of the company’s stock after selling 17,031 shares during the quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,524,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $910,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the first quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 168,561 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,130,000 after buying an additional 5,062 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the first quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 4,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Revisor Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter valued at about $327,000. Finally, Weaver Consulting Group increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 25.7% in the first quarter. Weaver Consulting Group now owns 4,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $377,000 after buying an additional 858 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.7%

MRK stock opened at $82.36 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $206.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $79.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $87.32. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.93.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.