Berkeley Inc Reduces Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Berkeley Inc lowered its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 50.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 28,193 shares of the company's stock after selling 28,307 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.5% of Berkeley Inc's portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Berkeley Inc's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after buying an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after buying an additional 2,026,859 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after buying an additional 4,511,742 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

NYSE MRK traded down $0.08 on Tuesday, reaching $77.50. 11,867,802 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,568,649. 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 company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $91.05. The company has a market cap of $194.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.52, 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 47.16%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

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.