AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC Has $2.65 Million Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,600 shares of the company’s stock after selling 199 shares during the quarter. AIMZ Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,408,763,000 after buying an additional 5,550,824 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 748.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,149,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,346,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,388 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,231,000 after purchasing an additional 2,610,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% in the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,463 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $90.58 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.59.

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 business 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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 given 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 dividend yield of 3.58%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

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.