B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Reduces Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. lessened its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 114,933 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,564 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,526,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $365,000. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,978,000 after acquiring an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the last quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 821 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 35.4% during the 4th quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 1,051,976 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,483,000 after purchasing an additional 275,056 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded down $1.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $76.17. 12,271,678 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,567,486. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $81.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.05. The stock has a market cap of $191.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.32, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.