Cambridge Advisors Inc. Has $848,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cambridge Advisors Inc. reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 26.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,529 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,990 shares during the quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company's stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Constitution Capital LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company's stock worth $1,669,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,552,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $637,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. UBS Group cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

NYSE MRK traded down $2.70 during trading on Monday, reaching $98.00. 15,879,862 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a PE ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week 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 company's fifty day simple moving average is $100.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.61.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio 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.