Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 2,667 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ballentine Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 63,509 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,667 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,318,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $1.74 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $96.18. The stock had a trading volume of 17,752,668 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,263,390. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.42. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $243.30 billion, a PE ratio of 20.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.'s 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.