Intergy Private Wealth LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Intergy Private Wealth LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 25.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,813 shares of the company’s stock after selling 939 shares during the quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $252,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $26,350,000. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 5,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after buying an additional 403 shares during the period. Finally, Silver Oak Securities Incorporated boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 12,022 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,183,000 after buying an additional 3,002 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $78.95 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.31 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $198.25 billion, a PE ratio of 11.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $79.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $89.96.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.16%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other 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 transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.