Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Compass Ion Advisors LLC

Compass Ion Advisors LLC trimmed its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 22,468 shares of the company’s stock after selling 982 shares during the quarter. Compass Ion Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tradewinds LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,777,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. TI Trust Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after buying an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $94.69 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63. 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 company has a market capitalization of $239.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $93.34 and its 200-day simple moving average is $101.45.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their target price 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

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.