Avalon Capital Management Lowers Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Avalon Capital Management cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 6,604 shares of the company’s stock after selling 250 shares during the quarter. Avalon Capital Management’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $657,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 387,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,523,000 after acquiring an additional 8,564 shares in the last quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company’s stock valued at $880,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $516,000. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Processus Wealth & Capital Management LLC now owns 15,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,493,000 after purchasing an additional 725 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% in the 4th quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 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. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, 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. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $91.22 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 3.55%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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.