Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. Purchases New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Hall Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 20,826 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,072,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. TI Trust Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,973,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,978,000 after purchasing an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Wealth Services increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,137,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 4,050 shares of the company's stock worth $402,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 14,805 shares of the company's stock worth $1,473,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of MRK stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $77.50. The company had a trading volume of 11,867,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,568,652. The company has a market capitalization of $194.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. 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. has a twelve month low of $73.31 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $81.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $91.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" 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 decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of 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. Wall Street Zen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $84.00 price target (down from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.13% of the stock is currently 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.