Veery Capital LLC Sells 189 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Veery Capital LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,827 shares of the company’s stock after selling 189 shares during the quarter. Veery Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $281,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at $32,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $98.00 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.85.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.31%. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

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.