Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Constitution Capital LLC

Constitution Capital LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 800 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $355,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pines Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $627,000 after acquiring an additional 154 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares during the period. IAM Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. IAM Advisory LLC now owns 18,106 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 306 shares during the period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% in the 1st quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. now owns 21,785 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,955,000 after acquiring an additional 876 shares during the period. Finally, Procyon Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 45,651 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,098,000 after acquiring an additional 5,981 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $78.95 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $198.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month 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 company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $89.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.