Hudock Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hudock Inc. reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,002 shares of the company’s stock after selling 521 shares during the period. Hudock Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,487,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Magnus Financial Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the third quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC now owns 7,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $834,000 after acquiring an additional 331 shares during the period. Finally, Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the third quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 39,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,525,000 after acquiring an additional 171 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Insider Activity

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $85.71 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $85.61 and a one year 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $98.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.79. The company has a market cap of $216.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.