Donald L. Hagan LLC Has $835,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Donald L. Hagan LLC lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,396 shares of the company’s stock after selling 388 shares during the quarter. Donald L. Hagan LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC now owns 55,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.2% during the 4th quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 954,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,706,000 after purchasing an additional 179,836 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $900,000. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 25,300 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,517,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lewis Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 3,069 shares of the company’s stock worth $305,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6 %

MRK stock opened at $98.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $250.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $99.86 and a 200-day moving average of $108.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business 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 firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners cut their target price 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. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

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.