Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Hardy Reed LLC

Hardy Reed LLC lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 57.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,681 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,947 shares during the period. Hardy Reed LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Advyzon Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $739,000. Meitav Investment House Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12,641.0% in the fourth quarter. Meitav Investment House Ltd. now owns 397,392 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,515,000 after acquiring an additional 394,273 shares in the last quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,297,000 after acquiring an additional 708 shares in the last quarter. Corps Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $502,000. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 195,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,404,000 after acquiring an additional 53,967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.7 %

NYSE MRK opened at $85.55 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $216.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $81.04 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $95.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.49.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

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.