Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV Trims Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,386 shares of the company’s stock after selling 455 shares during the period. Droms Strauss Advisors Inc. MO ADV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $237,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners dropped 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 note on Monday, January 13th. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE MRK opened at $83.01 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.06. The stock has a market cap of $209.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.09 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

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.