Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC Has $60,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 36.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 603 shares of the company’s stock after selling 350 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $60,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased 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 report on Friday, November 1st. Barclays dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $1.69 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $100.94. 4,000,918 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,133,164. The stock has a market capitalization of $255.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $100.18 and its 200 day moving average is $110.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.