Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Retirement Systems of Alabama

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,300,726 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,609 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $129,396,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $90.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $230.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $99.80 and a 200-day moving average of $107.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.33 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is 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 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 3.56%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.