Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 203,328 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,910 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $20,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 478,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,626,000 after purchasing an additional 53,953 shares during the last quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 1,000,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,569,000 after purchasing an additional 22,300 shares during the last quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 344,002 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,278 shares during the last quarter. Apriem Advisors increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% in the 4th quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 11,238 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE MRK opened at $89.39 on Thursday. 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 cap of $226.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $81.04 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $94.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.68.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

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.