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

Barry Investment Advisors LLC cut its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 12,348 shares of the company’s stock after selling 541 shares during the quarter. Barry Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,238,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $759,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 1,489 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charter Oak Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 13,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $97.49 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $99.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $246.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $94.48 and a 1-year 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

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

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.