Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 1,000 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 25,183 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.8% of Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,505,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,556.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 1,556 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.3% in the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 4,041,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,090,000 after acquiring an additional 595,105 shares during the period. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allstate Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3,161.0% during the fourth quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 75,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,490,000 after purchasing an additional 72,987 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Leerink Partners cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective 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. Finally, UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of 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. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $225.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $91.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.21.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’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 transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.