Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 17,803 shares of the company’s stock after selling 136 shares during the period. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,598,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during 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 last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,859 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 shares were 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 now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.13% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3%

MRK opened at $79.26 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $199.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.85 and a 200 day moving average of $88.82.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. 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.