Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Spirit of America Management Corp NY

Spirit of America Management Corp NY cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 16,850 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the period. Spirit of America Management Corp NY’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,676,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the third quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the third quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,552,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 8.8 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $90.99 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market cap of $230.16 billion, a PE ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $107.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.33 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.56%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.