One Day In July LLC Has $268,000 Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

One Day In July LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.9% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,981 shares of the company’s stock after selling 606 shares during the period. One Day In July LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $268,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,072,582,000 after purchasing an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $80.97 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $129.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. The company has a market capitalization of $203.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a PEG ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $79.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $86.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.