Schear Investment Advisers LLC Sells 2,313 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Schear Investment Advisers LLC cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 21.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,313 shares during the period. Schear Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the period. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings 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. ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 71.2% during the third quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 7,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $816,000 after acquiring an additional 2,988 shares during the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the third quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 353,564 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,151,000 after acquiring an additional 4,827 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s 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 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. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

MRK stock opened at $86.52 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.73 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $98.44 and its 200 day moving average is $106.06. The company has a market capitalization of $218.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 48.14%.

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.