Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 136,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,539,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $86.52 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $98.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $218.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.73 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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 dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Citigroup decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities cut shares of 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 research report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.94.

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.