Sather Financial Group Inc Trims Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sather Financial Group Inc trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 6,885 shares of the company’s stock after selling 282 shares during the period. Sather Financial Group Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $685,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 71.2% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 7,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $816,000 after purchasing an additional 2,988 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 4,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 269 shares during the period. Finally, Wesbanco Bank Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% during the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 353,564 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,151,000 after buying an additional 4,827 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 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 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm 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 repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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. Stockholders 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 is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on 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. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.94.

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.