Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 38,739 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,908 shares during the quarter. Adell Harriman & Carpenter Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 41.8% in the 3rd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 12,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 3,824 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buffington Mohr McNeal raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Buffington Mohr McNeal now owns 83,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,508,000 after purchasing an additional 588 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.7 %

MRK opened at $83.01 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $209.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $82.09 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $97.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.50. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.06.

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.