Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc.

Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc. trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,020 shares of the company’s stock after selling 840 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.3% of Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Newman Dignan & Sheerar Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Vivid Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Roxbury Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $963,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC now owns 34,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,415,000 after buying an additional 2,159 shares during the last quarter. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $531,000. Finally, Empire Life Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Empire Life Investments Inc. now owns 332,830 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,110,000 after buying an additional 14,939 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $83.01 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $209.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $82.09 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.