Albion Financial Group UT Sells 4,102 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Albion Financial Group UT reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 44,851 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,102 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. UBS Group reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $95.72 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $242.13 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.38%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

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.