Martin & Co. Inc. TN Sells 623 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Martin & Co. Inc. TN cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 15,281 shares of the company’s stock after selling 623 shares during the period. Martin & Co. Inc. TN’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 15,042 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,496,000 after buying an additional 2,210 shares during the last quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 13,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 15,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,535,000 after buying an additional 365 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,502,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $646,882,000 after purchasing an additional 146,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 863.4% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 219,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,821,000 after purchasing an additional 196,586 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Insider Activity

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $83.01 on Monday. 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 $209.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.06. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $82.09 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.