D Orazio & Associates Inc. Sells 575 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

D Orazio & Associates Inc. lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,912 shares of the company’s stock after selling 575 shares during the quarter. D Orazio & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $389,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Leerink Partners cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $87.26 on Friday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.01 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.87. The stock has a market cap of $220.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.12 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.