Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Down 4.9% – Time to Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) dropped 4.9% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $77.64 and last traded at $77.87. Approximately 3,365,543 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 11,387,816 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.91.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lowered 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $199.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. 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 50-day moving average price of $88.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $97.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business 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 company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Perkins Coie Trust Co increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the first quarter. Perkins Coie Trust Co now owns 6,021 shares of the company’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 136 shares in the last quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Godsey & Gibb Inc. now owns 208,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,682,000 after purchasing an additional 22,125 shares in the last quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the first quarter. WealthBridge Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 85,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,687,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% in the first quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC now owns 615,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,253,000 after buying an additional 61,003 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the first quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,269,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.