Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Trimmed by Bridgewater Associates LP

Bridgewater Associates LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,439,430 shares of the company’s stock after selling 114,840 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.7% of Bridgewater Associates LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Bridgewater Associates LP owned approximately 0.06% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $143,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. M Holdings Securities Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 21,958 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,184,000 after buying an additional 6,550 shares during the last quarter. AGP Franklin LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $327,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.6% during the fourth quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 26,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,655,000 after acquiring an additional 14,253 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 387,396 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,538,000 after acquiring an additional 28,910 shares during the period. Finally, Rossby Financial LCC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $263,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

MRK stock opened at $79.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $199.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.74, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $75.96 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.04.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.