Abacus Wealth Partners LLC Sells 449 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Abacus Wealth Partners LLC reduced its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,123 shares of the company’s stock after selling 449 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.2% of Abacus Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Abacus Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,007,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. New Hampshire Trust lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 49,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,912,000 after acquiring an additional 834 shares during the period. Hoese & Co LLP increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Hoese & Co LLP now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,000 after purchasing an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 81,445 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,102,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 16,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,653,000 after buying an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 32,385 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,222,000 after buying an additional 3,407 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 2.7 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.00 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $94.48 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.61.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.31%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $123.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.67.

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.