Jackson Square Capital LLC Sells 15,684 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Jackson Square Capital LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 71.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,164 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,684 shares during the period. Jackson Square Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 154,176 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,334,000 after purchasing an additional 6,405 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 10,673 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 1,914 shares during the last quarter. Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 4,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 626,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,333,000 after purchasing an additional 13,181 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.00 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.85. The company has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase 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 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays decreased 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 reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Leerink Partners cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

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.