Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Richardson Financial Services Inc.

Richardson Financial Services Inc. cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 32.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 969 shares of the company’s stock after selling 462 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $95,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at $325,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares during the period. Czech National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 516,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,639,000 after acquiring an additional 33,717 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 45,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,158,000 after acquiring an additional 6,007 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.2 %

MRK stock opened at $98.80 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $94.48 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.