Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC Decreases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,926 shares of the company’s stock after selling 161 shares during the quarter. Gardner Russo & Quinn LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. TI Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $89.18 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $225.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $100.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its 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). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign 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 given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’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 value 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. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

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.