Kintegral Advisory LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kintegral Advisory LLC decreased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,560 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,638 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 0.9% of Kintegral Advisory LLC's holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Kintegral Advisory LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,988,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company's stock worth $13,606,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company's stock worth $8,608,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company's stock worth $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company's stock worth $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company's stock worth $2,016,374,000 after purchasing an additional 309,656 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $89.40 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $226.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (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 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 revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, 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 value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on MRK shares. Leerink Partners decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.39.

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.

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