Stewart & Patten Co. LLC Sells 1,050 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Stewart & Patten Co. LLC trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,629 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,050 shares during the period. Stewart & Patten Co. LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Consilio Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter worth about $283,000. Claro Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 14,637 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,931,000 after buying an additional 635 shares in the last quarter. Talbot Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 1st quarter. Talbot Financial LLC now owns 84,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,215,000 after buying an additional 722 shares during the period. Little House Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the first quarter. Little House Capital LLC now owns 29,008 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,065 shares during the period. Finally, Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.4% during the first quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 9,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 1,326 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price target for the company. in a report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Argus raised Merck & Co., Inc. to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 5th. TheStreet lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $133.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 3.3 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $4.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $127.90. 11,528,431 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,565,867. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $323.95 billion, a PE ratio of 142.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.39 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $129.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $124.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The company reported $2.07 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.13. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 14.05% and a net margin of 3.76%. The company had revenue of $15.78 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.40 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 8.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 17th will be paid a $0.77 dividend. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 342.22%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.