Employees Retirement System of Texas Has $74.15 Million Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Employees Retirement System of Texas lowered its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 745,324 shares of the company's stock after selling 29,300 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $74,145,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Tallon Kerry Patrick bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $365,000. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company's stock worth $3,808,000 after purchasing an additional 8,710 shares during the period. apricus wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. apricus wealth LLC now owns 22,023 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,191,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Linden Thomas Advisory Services LLC now owns 10,933 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,088,000 after buying an additional 696 shares during the period. Finally, Grimes & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 21,658 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,155,000 after buying an additional 341 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.08 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.50. 11,867,802 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,568,652. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $194.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The company's 50 day moving average price is $81.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $91.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an "overweight" rating to a "cautious" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. TD Securities lowered shares of 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $109.19.

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.