Prudential PLC Cuts Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Prudential PLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 310,052 shares of the company’s stock after selling 73,375 shares during the period. Prudential PLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $30,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. PAX Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $89,000. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $887,000. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 54.6% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 6,911 shares of the company’s stock worth $688,000 after buying an additional 2,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huber Capital Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 32.7% in the 4th quarter. Huber Capital Management LLC now owns 20,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,019,000 after buying an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought 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 owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $86.32 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $218.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.83, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $91.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.44. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. 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 report on Wednesday, February 12th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

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.