Albion Financial Group UT Sells 4,102 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Albion Financial Group UT lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 44,851 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,102 shares during the quarter. Albion Financial Group UT's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,462,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company's stock worth $516,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the third quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company's stock worth $562,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. E&G Advisors LP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company's stock worth $1,669,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,552,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK traded up $0.89 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $96.57. The stock had a trading volume of 11,512,593 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,553,397. The firm has a market capitalization of $244.28 billion, a PE ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $99.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.11.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.