Anchor Investment Management LLC Sells 4,431 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Anchor Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 70,639 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,431 shares during the quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $79.00 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $75.96 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $88.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.04. The company has a market cap of $199.56 billion, a PE ratio of 11.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. 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 issued its 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). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $115.50.

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.