Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 25,183 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.8% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,505,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after purchasing an additional 35,525 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,399,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,761,000 after buying an additional 422,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. 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 research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8 %

MRK stock opened at $89.18 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week 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 cap of $225.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $91.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during 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 revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.