Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 9,695 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 45.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,703 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,695 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 25th. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $100.94 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. 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 company has a market cap of $255.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $100.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $110.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

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.