Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Has $537,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,988 shares of the company’s stock after selling 409 shares during the period. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $537,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after acquiring an additional 8,710 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares in the last quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 213.4% in the fourth quarter. Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 3,857 shares in the last quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,006.2% in the fourth quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 20,410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,030,000 after acquiring an additional 18,565 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,110,372 shares of the company’s stock valued at $117,279,000 after acquiring an additional 111,651 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 price objective (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $80.97 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $86.97. The firm has a market cap of $203.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $129.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.