John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Has $9.59 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 96,423 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,049 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 1.4% of John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. John G Ullman & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Onefund LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 6,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $680,000 after acquiring an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 84,010 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,357,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares during the last quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Middleton & Co. Inc. MA now owns 146,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,581,000 after acquiring an additional 8,406 shares during the last quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Flaharty Asset Management LLC now owns 2,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $253,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobi Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 61,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,147,000 after acquiring an additional 1,498 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on MRK shares. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $92.23 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. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $232.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly 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 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased 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 trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the 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 owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.