Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.1% - Here's What Happened

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) shares traded down 0.1% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $87.52 and last traded at $87.98. 1,819,490 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 10,281,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $88.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. Leerink Partners decreased their target price 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. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.12.

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Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

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 capitalization of $225.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company's 50 day moving average is $91.92 and its 200 day moving average is $100.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after buying an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock worth $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,479,799,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.