Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Holdings Lessened by City Holding Co.

City Holding Co. lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 28.6% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 16,672 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,688 shares during the quarter. City Holding Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after buying an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after buying an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the 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 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of MRK opened at $78.95 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $198.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.73, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month 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 fifty day simple moving average of $79.13 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $89.83.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. 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 report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.