Joule Financial LLC Sells 118 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Joule Financial LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 118 shares during the quarter. Joule Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,207,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the second quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 199,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,739,000 after buying an additional 7,641 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,584,209 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,127,000 after buying an additional 28,185 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% during the second quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,775,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,784,000 after buying an additional 61,677 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the second quarter. Transatlantique Private Wealth LLC now owns 20,102 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,476,000 after buying an additional 446 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

NYSE MRK opened at $98.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.85. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.67.

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.