Burney Co. Sells 8,715 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Burney Co. cut its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 47,929 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,715 shares during the period. Burney Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,768,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,207,000. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,116,000 after buying an additional 1,641 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. True Vision MN LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $436,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 764,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,626,000 after buying an additional 18,856 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on MRK. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $100.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $253.47 billion, a PE ratio of 21.01, a PEG ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $100.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $110.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

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.