PSI Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

PSI Advisors LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 47.5% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,396 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,262 shares during the quarter. PSI Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $125,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 991.7% in the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 33,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,997,000 after acquiring an additional 30,335 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.3% in the fourth quarter. Lifeworks Advisors LLC now owns 73,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,309,000 after purchasing an additional 18,775 shares during the last quarter. Element Wealth LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Element Wealth LLC now owns 4,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.2% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 102,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,229,000 after purchasing an additional 25,997 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued 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 issued a $115.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “overweight” rating to a “cautious” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $78.36 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.41. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $88.89.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 27.27% and a return on equity of 43.23%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current 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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

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.