Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc Reduces Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 33,551 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,303 shares during the quarter. Richard P Slaughter Associates Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $3,338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the third quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 4,541 shares of the company’s stock valued at $516,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Constitution Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Constitution Capital LLC now owns 4,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $562,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. E&G Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. E&G Advisors LP now owns 14,698 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,669,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Shayne & Jacobs LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the third quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $100.20 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $100.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $110.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $94.48 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $253.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.23%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 67.92%.

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.