Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 917,806 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,109,679 shares of the company's stock after selling 917,806 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.44% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $1,105,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company's stock worth $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company's stock valued at $420,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,080,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% in the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,399,643 shares of the company's stock worth $933,761,000 after acquiring an additional 422,382 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought 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 in the company, 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. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 3.0 %

MRK traded down $2.69 on Tuesday, hitting $87.08. The company had a trading volume of 13,919,428 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,104,738. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.82. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $219.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities 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 initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.72%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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.