Lee Financial Co Sells 123 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lee Financial Co trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 123 shares during the period. Lee Financial Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,228,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 748.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,149,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,346,000 after buying an additional 2,778,388 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after buying an additional 2,194,463 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC raised 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $83.01 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $97.04 and its 200 day moving average is $105.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $82.09 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

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.