W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co Sells 531 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 109,746 shares of the company’s stock after selling 531 shares during the period. W.G. Shaheen & Associates DBA Whitney & Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,918,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,016,374,000 after purchasing an additional 309,656 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $89.40 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $95.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.10. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $226.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a PEG 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Leerink Partners decreased their price target 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. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed 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 transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 insiders.

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.