Smithfield Trust Co Decreases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Smithfield Trust Co reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 90,986 shares of the company’s stock after selling 25,791 shares during the period. Smithfield Trust Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,037,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% during the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $92.56 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $94.37 and a 200-day moving average of $103.00. The company has a market cap of $233.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered 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 report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.