Lipe & Dalton Has $1.15 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lipe & Dalton decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,559 shares of the company’s stock after selling 348 shares during the quarter. Lipe & Dalton’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,150,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 748.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,149,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,388 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,231,000 after buying an additional 2,610,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after buying an additional 2,194,463 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.0 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $226.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $95.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of 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. Bank of America decreased their target price 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, February 5th. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

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.