Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. Decreases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 228,022 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,432 shares during the period. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,684,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after buying an additional 1,292,192 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,606,360,000 after acquiring an additional 1,536,474 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after acquiring an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after acquiring an additional 2,134,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,479,799,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $89.18 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $100.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $225.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 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 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 business 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 firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 3.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 48.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America dropped their price target on 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. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

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.