Beech Hill Advisors Inc. cut its position in shares of Merck & Company, Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 65,173 shares of the company’s stock after selling 725 shares during the period. Merck & accounts for 2.3% of Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & were worth $4,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Diversified Trust Co raised its position in shares of Merck & by 2.7% in the second quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 35,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,299,000 after buying an additional 953 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & by 10.6% in the second quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 9,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $595,000 after buying an additional 888 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its position in shares of Merck & by 0.3% in the second quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 16,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,032,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & by 13.1% in the second quarter. Tealwood Asset Management Inc. now owns 87,387 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,601,000 after buying an additional 10,143 shares during the period. Finally, North Star Investment Management Corp. raised its position in shares of Merck & by 2.1% in the second quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 50,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,268,000 after buying an additional 1,042 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.68% of the company’s stock.
Shares of Merck & Company, Inc. (MRK) traded down 0.09% during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $63.38. 1,651,900 shares of the stock traded hands. Merck & Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $57.18 and a 52 week high of $66.80. The stock has a market cap of $173.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.32 and a beta of 0.80. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.65 and its 200-day moving average is $63.78.
Merck & (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, July 28th. The company reported $1.01 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.87 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $9.93 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.75 billion. Merck & had a return on equity of 25.75% and a net margin of 17.14%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.93 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Company, Inc. will post $3.85 earnings per share for the current year.
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 6th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 15th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 14th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.96%. Merck &’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.11%.
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A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Investment Research lowered shares of Merck & from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. BidaskClub upgraded shares of Merck & from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS AG raised their price objective on shares of Merck & from $70.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Piper Jaffray Companies set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Merck & and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, July 29th. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (The) reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $74.00 price objective (up previously from $70.00) on shares of Merck & in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Merck & has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $69.80.
In other news, Director C Robert Kidder sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $63.54, for a total value of $317,700.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 14,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $909,702.18. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.05% of the company’s stock.
About Merck &
Merck & Co, Inc is a global healthcare company. The Company offers health solutions through its prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, Healthcare Services and Alliances. The Company’s Pharmaceutical segment includes human health pharmaceutical and vaccine products marketed either directly by the Company or through joint ventures.
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