Park Place Capital Corp Sells 2,339 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Park Place Capital Corp cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 31.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,163 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,339 shares during the quarter. Park Place Capital Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $514,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 223,055 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,190,000 after acquiring an additional 1,236 shares during the period. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Luts & Greenleigh Group Inc. now owns 4,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,000 after purchasing an additional 421 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 82.0% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 6,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 2,869 shares in the last quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 63.9% in the 4th quarter. Viking Fund Management LLC now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,948,000 after buying an additional 39,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 4,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $95.72 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $242.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.20.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.38%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

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.