Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Time to Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price traded down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $85.73 and last traded at $85.99. 4,689,680 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 13,559,494 shares. The stock had previously closed at $86.40.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

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 firm has a market cap of $219.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $98.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $106.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% 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.