Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,809 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during 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. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,782,000 after purchasing an additional 518,270 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,376,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth approximately $896,000. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 37,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,297,000 after buying an additional 950 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $93.44 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $93.00 and its 200 day moving average is $101.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $236.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

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

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on 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. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on 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. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

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.