Brooklyn Investment Group Sells 2,794 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Brooklyn Investment Group trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 20.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 11,171 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,794 shares during the quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,111,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. 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 note on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $2.70 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $98.00. The company had a trading volume of 15,879,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.72. The company has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is a positive change 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 3.31%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.