Segment Wealth Management LLC Sells 805 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Segment Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.7% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,503 shares of the company’s stock after selling 805 shares during the period. Segment Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,481,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,000 after acquiring an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Blue Barn Wealth LLC now owns 2,944 shares of the company’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.26 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $199.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $78.89 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $88.67. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 43.23% and a net margin of 27.27%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald cut 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 set a $84.00 target price (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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 report on Thursday, April 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $109.19.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.