Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Live Oak Private Wealth LLC

Live Oak Private Wealth LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 69,694 shares of the company’s stock after selling 265 shares during the quarter. Live Oak Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,933,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 161,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares during the last quarter. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $1,737,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $150,000. BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $26,100,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 632,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,907,000 after acquiring an additional 10,332 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.9 %

MRK opened at $87.97 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.33 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $107.00. The firm has a market cap of $222.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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 return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often 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.