First Bank & Trust Sells 2,639 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First Bank & Trust lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,356 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,639 shares during the quarter. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $632,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after purchasing an additional 35,525 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Finally, Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $2,080,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on shares of 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. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $85.55 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $81.04 and a one year high of $134.63. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company 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 company earned $0.03 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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 repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. 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.