Tradewinds LLC. Sells 2,109 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Tradewinds LLC. reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,540 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,109 shares during the quarter. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. CGN Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. TI Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $89.74 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $226.69 billion, a PE ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $91.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $99.82. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.