Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Down 0.9% - Here's What Happened

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) were down 0.9% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $76.03 and last traded at $78.01. Approximately 6,272,567 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 47% from the average daily volume of 11,764,424 shares. The stock had previously closed at $78.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America reduced 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $209.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $87.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $95.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.07 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Rosenberg Matthew Hamilton now owns 3,684 shares of the company's stock worth $331,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% in the first quarter. Resonant Capital Advisors LLC now owns 10,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $910,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 168,561 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,130,000 after acquiring an additional 5,062 shares in the last quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.4% during the first quarter. Latitude Advisors LLC now owns 4,414 shares of the company's stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 486 shares during the period. Finally, Revisor Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the first quarter valued at approximately $327,000. 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.