Crestwood Advisors Group LLC Sells 5,896 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Crestwood Advisors Group LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 116,871 shares of the company’s stock after selling 5,896 shares during the period. Crestwood Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,626,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $89.40 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 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. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.