Wright Investors Service Inc. Lowers Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wright Investors Service Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 37,902 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,064 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.2% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,132,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Curran Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $227,000. Peterson Wealth Services grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 64.7% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 18,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after purchasing an additional 7,232 shares during the period. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 122,407 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,544 shares during the period. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 4th quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,242 shares of the company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares during the period. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 320,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,994,000 after acquiring an additional 17,468 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Barclays raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.3 %

Shares of MRK traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $125.05. The company had a trading volume of 1,285,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,251,719. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $126.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $316.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 891.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.62 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,200.00%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.