TFG Advisers LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

TFG Advisers LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,318 shares of the company’s stock after selling 294 shares during the quarter. TFG Advisers LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. B & T Capital Management DBA Alpha Capital Management now owns 37,332 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,239,000 after buying an additional 672 shares in the last quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $526,000 after buying an additional 188 shares during the last quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the third quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 85,370 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,695,000 after acquiring an additional 275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% during the third quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 7,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $833,000 after acquiring an additional 1,105 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This 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. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $87.26 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.12 and a 1-year 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 firm has a market capitalization of $220.73 billion, a PE ratio of 12.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.87.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Bank of America lowered 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 report on Wednesday. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.33.

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.