Hendley & Co. Inc. Sells 2,775 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hendley & Co. Inc. decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,775 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for approximately 1.3% of Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Hendley & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,647,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the third quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $91.22 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $230.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.94. 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 the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback 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 often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

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.