B&D White Capital Company LLC Sells 115,900 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

B&D White Capital Company LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 92.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,175 shares of the company’s stock after selling 115,900 shares during the period. B&D White Capital Company LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Source Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,058,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. UBS Group dropped their target price 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. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, 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 ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $89.40 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $226.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.10. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $134.63. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. 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 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s leadership 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.