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

AdvisorNet Financial Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 17,515 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,387 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,742,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third 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. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position 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 buying an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $125,204,000 after acquiring an additional 34,715 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $99.70 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $100.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.19. The company has a market cap of $252.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

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.