Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Decreased by Tobam

Tobam trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 40.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 65,154 shares of the company’s stock after selling 43,947 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 2.0% of Tobam’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Tobam’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,482,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after acquiring an additional 35,525 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.9 %

MRK opened at $87.97 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.33 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $222.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $99.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 3.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

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

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.