LSV Asset Management Sells 267,130 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

LSV Asset Management trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,747,990 shares of the company’s stock after selling 267,130 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 1.3% of LSV Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. LSV Asset Management owned approximately 0.23% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $571,810,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.50.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $81.82 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $89.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.90. The stock has a market cap of $206.67 billion, a PE ratio of 12.16, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $76.00 and a fifty-two week 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 firm 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.