Allied Investment Advisors LLC Lowers Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Allied Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 10,194 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,068 shares during the period. Allied Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,014,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northcape Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 26,603 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,646,000 after acquiring an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Legacy Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $249,000. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $842,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.9% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 103,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,294,000 after acquiring an additional 28,425 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 6,042 shares of the company’s stock valued at $601,000 after purchasing an additional 673 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 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, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $83.25 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $210.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $96.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.62. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.