Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 1.2% – Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price fell 1.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $108.78 and last traded at $109.1540. 10,558,999 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 14,073,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $110.53.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Berenberg Bank cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $90.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 18th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Merck & Co., Inc. from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $90.00 to $125.00 in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $100.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $89.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $270.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.42, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.29.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 29.63% and a return on equity of 44.54%. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were issued a dividend of $0.85 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.1%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were 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 directly owned 24,578 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. This represents a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Abound Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Abound Wealth Management now owns 1,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $164,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Pine Haven Investment Counsel Inc now owns 14,137 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,488,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Lake Street Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,203 shares of the company’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. One Charles Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the company’s stock worth $291,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Fragasso Financial Advisors Inc now owns 11,502 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.