Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Position Decreased by Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC

Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 56.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,117 shares of the company's stock after selling 4,121 shares during the quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company's stock worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company's stock valued at $484,231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610,800 shares during the period. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company's stock valued at $611,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,463 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company's stock worth $6,696,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134,296 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned 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, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of MRK traded down $2.70 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $98.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,879,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,381,323. The company has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day moving average of $100.01 and a 200 day moving average of $109.72. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 payout ratio is presently 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.