Banque Pictet & Cie SA Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Banque Pictet & Cie SA lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,201,910 shares of the company’s stock after selling 31,915 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for 0.8% of Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Banque Pictet & Cie SA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $119,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 838 shares during the last quarter. First Merchants Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.7% during 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 during the period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,080,000. Arcus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $173,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.1% in the fourth quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 9,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,215 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $84.35 on Friday. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $84.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $97.82 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $105.65. The firm has a market cap of $213.37 billion, a PE ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 3.84%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group lowered their price target 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 Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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. 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.