Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 123,142 shares of the company’s stock after selling 12,500 shares during the quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,335,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 38,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,808,000 after buying an additional 8,710 shares during the period. Calton & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the first quarter worth $400,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 104.1% in the first quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 9,588 shares of the company’s stock valued at $861,000 after acquiring an additional 4,890 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 57,510 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,162,000 after purchasing an additional 12,616 shares during the period. Finally, Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 1st quarter worth $528,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Monday, December 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $110.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $106.47 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $95.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $87.34. The stock has a market cap of $264.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.29. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.31 and a 12-month high of $107.59.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, January 30th. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. This is a boost from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 44.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.