Strategic Blueprint LLC Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Strategic Blueprint LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 74.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,581 shares of the company’s stock after selling 28,192 shares during the quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $860,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the period. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the first quarter. Foundation Wealth Management LLC PA now owns 5,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $481,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Tilson Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 4,965 shares of the company’s stock worth $446,000 after acquiring an additional 132 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Lynx Investment Advisory now owns 3,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Finally, Perkins Coie Trust Co lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $540,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly 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 link. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $80.97 on Friday. 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 fifty day moving average of $79.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $86.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $203.32 billion, a PE ratio of 11.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $129.93.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently commented on MRK. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.