Hobbs Group Advisors LLC Has $378,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 3,802 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,495 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Allstate Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,161.0% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 75,296 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,490,000 after buying an additional 72,987 shares in the last quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. RiverFront Investment Group LLC now owns 13,089 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after buying an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% in the 4th quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 777,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,324,000 after acquiring an additional 54,013 shares during the last quarter. Finally, denkapparat Operations GmbH acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $1,480,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $89.18 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a market cap of $225.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 3.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.