Trust Co. of Vermont Sells 10,509 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Trust Co. of Vermont cut its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 116,338 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,509 shares during the period. Trust Co. of Vermont's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock worth $1,759,800,000 after buying an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company's stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company's stock worth $208,649,000 after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,102,540 shares of the company's stock worth $125,204,000 after purchasing an additional 34,715 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $2.70 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $98.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,879,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-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 firm has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The business's 50 day moving average is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.72.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

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.