Easterly Investment Partners LLC Has $12.51 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 139,343 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,497 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.0% of Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,507,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 127 shares in the last quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the first quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the fourth quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its position 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 worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $99.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. 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. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $108.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $82.45 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $128.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market cap of $207.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $79.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $86.14.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.93%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

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.