Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by M Holdings Securities Inc.

M Holdings Securities Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 85.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,184 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,224 shares during the quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $217,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company's stock worth $13,606,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,408,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,125,171 shares of the company's stock worth $2,002,052,000 after buying an additional 1,317,878 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK traded down $4.43 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.88. The stock had a trading volume of 20,614,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,227,055. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $92.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.78. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $81.04 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $221.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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.