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

Riverstone Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,034 shares of the company’s stock after selling 135 shares during the quarter. Riverstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Five Oceans Advisors lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Five Oceans Advisors now owns 4,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $404,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares in the last quarter. Sylvest Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $461,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 34.1% during the fourth quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp now owns 2,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $285,000 after acquiring an additional 728 shares during the last quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Comprehensive Financial Consultants Institutional Inc. now owns 39,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,943,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,587,000 after acquiring an additional 1,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.80 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

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.