Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by IVC Wealth Advisors LLC

IVC Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,265 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,121 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.1% of IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Galvin Gaustad & Stein LLC now owns 4,208 shares of the company’s stock worth $419,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Cardinal Capital Management Inc. now owns 230,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,965,000 after buying an additional 4,588 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Oklahoma increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 3,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 161 shares in the last quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Baron Silver Stevens Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,704 shares of the company’s stock valued at $567,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares during the period. Finally, MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.0% during the 4th quarter. MinichMacGregor Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,149 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.9 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $96.57 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

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.