New Mexico Educational Retirement Board Sells 3,000 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 120,886 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.4% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,026,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 331.5% in the 4th quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 33,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,358,000 after acquiring an additional 25,745 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.5% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,809,000 after acquiring an additional 14,664 shares during the period. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 280,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares during the period. Campbell Wealth Management raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 2,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Finally, Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $288,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost 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 of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $83.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $209.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $82.09 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $97.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in 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 an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.