Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Peddock Capital Advisors LLC

Peddock Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,459 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,190 shares during the quarter. Peddock Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,140,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on MRK. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7 %

MRK opened at $100.94 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $255.34 billion, a PE ratio of 21.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The business has a 50-day moving average of $100.16 and a 200-day moving average of $110.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.21%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. 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.