Barry Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Barry Investment Advisors LLC decreased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,348 shares of the company’s stock after selling 541 shares during the period. Barry Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,238,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after buying an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $97.49 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $99.83 and a 200 day moving average of $108.34. The firm has a market cap of $246.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.13 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized 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 an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.