Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Sells 238 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,678 shares of the company’s stock after selling 238 shares during the quarter. Cannon Financial Strategists Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 46,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,660,000 after buying an additional 2,542 shares during the last quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 36.5% in the fourth quarter. Semus Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 1,245 shares during the last quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 2,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $277,000 after buying an additional 207 shares during the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,646,000 after buying an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $249,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $83.25 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $96.26 and a 200 day moving average of $104.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.