Guardian Investment Management Sells 200 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Guardian Investment Management lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 15,300 shares of the company’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.1% of Guardian Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,522,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 199,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,739,000 after purchasing an additional 7,641 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 788.1% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 176,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,894,000 after buying an additional 156,935 shares in the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% during the second quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 112,056 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,873,000 after buying an additional 8,269 shares during the last quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the second quarter. Kowal Investment Group LLC now owns 9,982 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% in the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 521,653 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,581,000 after acquiring an additional 34,574 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.00 on Monday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.72.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

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.