Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Position Cut by Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC

Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,458 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,782 shares during the period. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $516,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP boosted its position 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 purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the third quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company's stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $2.70 during trading on Friday, reaching $98.00. The stock had a trading volume of 15,879,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap 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 one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.85.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

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

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.