Wright Investors Service Inc. Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 45.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,703 shares of the company's stock after selling 9,695 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,164,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Dale Q Rice Investment Management Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $861,000. Ellenbecker Investment Group raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.0% in the fourth quarter. Ellenbecker Investment Group now owns 7,269 shares of the company's stock worth $723,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Unique Wealth LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. First Financial Corp IN lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% in the fourth quarter. First Financial Corp IN now owns 13,140 shares of the company's stock worth $1,307,000 after buying an additional 790 shares during the period. Finally, Marion Wealth Management boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Marion Wealth Management now owns 25,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,592 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America reissued a "buy" rating and set a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $99.70. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,914,754 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,036,695. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $100.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.36. 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 company has a market cap of $252.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.25%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.'s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.