Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by United Capital Financial Advisors LLC

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC reduced its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 5.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 150,076 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,951 shares during the period. United Capital Financial Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $14,930,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 354,205 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,236,000 after acquiring an additional 19,084 shares during the period. Montag & Caldwell LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $105,000. M Holdings Securities Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 42.5% during the 4th quarter. M Holdings Securities Inc. now owns 21,958 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,184,000 after acquiring an additional 6,550 shares in the last quarter. AGP Franklin LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $327,000. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.6% in the 4th quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 26,693 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,655,000 after buying an additional 14,253 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $115.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK traded up $1.47 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $77.93. The company had a trading volume of 21,305,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,689,375. 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 business's 50 day moving average price is $87.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $96.52. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.93 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $196.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

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.