CapWealth Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

CapWealth Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 214,594 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,415 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 2.3% of CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. CapWealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $21,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $83.01 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $82.09 and a one year high of $134.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $97.44 and its 200 day moving average is $105.50. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share 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 generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.