First National Bank Sioux Falls Sells 456 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

First National Bank Sioux Falls lowered its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,760 shares of the company’s stock after selling 456 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $484,231,000 after buying an additional 2,610,800 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,860.9% in the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 2,494,199 shares of the company’s stock valued at $308,782,000 after buying an additional 2,473,346 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $611,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

MRK stock opened at $100.94 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $255.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $100.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $110.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.21%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.