AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Sells 76,774 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 821,416 shares of the company’s stock after selling 76,774 shares during the period. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $81,714,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 280,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,940,000 after acquiring an additional 1,658 shares in the last quarter. Campbell Wealth Management grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 57.8% in the 4th quarter. Campbell Wealth Management now owns 2,879 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after acquiring an additional 1,055 shares in the last quarter. Asset Planning Inc bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $288,000. V Square Quantitative Management LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 52,992 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,272,000 after acquiring an additional 838 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 10,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,017,000 after acquiring an additional 988 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE MRK opened at $83.01 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.50. 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). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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 Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the 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 owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.