Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Legacy Trust

Legacy Trust lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,979 shares of the company’s stock after selling 421 shares during the quarter. Legacy Trust’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610,800 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,696,060,000 after buying an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $98.23 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $248.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $99.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $108.13. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is 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.