Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc.

McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc. cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,953 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,675 shares during the quarter. McGlone Suttner Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Drucker Wealth 3.0 LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $241,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at about $409,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,602.5% in the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 180,206 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,310,000 after acquiring an additional 169,621 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,006,720 shares of the company’s stock valued at $619,832,000 after acquiring an additional 119,684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,339,106 shares of the company’s stock valued at $289,581,000 after acquiring an additional 149,979 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $95.54 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $99.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market capitalization of $241.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.03, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.39%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Leerink Partners decreased their price target 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. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

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.