Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 314 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,204 shares of the company’s stock after selling 314 shares during the quarter. Octavia Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $562,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Napatree Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,601,000 after purchasing an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% during the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,482,000 after buying an additional 22,775 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,477,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $146,546,000 after buying an additional 189,540 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $78.95 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $89.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $73.31 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm 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 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

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.