Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC Sells 58,276 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC lessened its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 94.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,176 shares of the company’s stock after selling 58,276 shares during the period. Oliver Luxxe Assets LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.57.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $99.72 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $100.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.47. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $252.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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.