Quotient Wealth Partners LLC Sells 1,566 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Quotient Wealth Partners LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,246 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,566 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $920,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. LVW Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.1% during the third quarter. LVW Advisors LLC now owns 7,820 shares of the company’s stock valued at $888,000 after acquiring an additional 1,028 shares during the period. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.7% in the third quarter. Juncture Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 2,311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $262,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.6% in the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 167,097 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,056,000 after purchasing an additional 42,990 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fiduciary Financial Group LLC now owns 6,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 267 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $87.26 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market cap of $220.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.12 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $98.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.60.

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 company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized 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 repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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.