Sapient Capital LLC Sells 139,644 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sapient Capital LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 329,858 shares of the company’s stock after selling 139,644 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $33,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $397,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% in the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 776,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,227,000 after buying an additional 19,679 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the third quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $86.52 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $86.27 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $98.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.34. The stock has a market cap of $218.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.74%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.