Little House Capital LLC Sells 9,815 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Little House Capital LLC lowered its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 38.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,421 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,815 shares during the quarter. Little House Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 3,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 3,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Investors Research Corp grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 9,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 14,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,245,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nicolet Bankshares Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the second quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 6,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $110.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 18th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. UBS Group raised their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. BMO Capital Markets raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Monday, December 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $114.53.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total transaction of $720,044.26. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $107.90 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a current ratio of 1.66 and a quick ratio of 1.44. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $73.31 and a 1 year high of $112.90. The firm has a market cap of $267.81 billion, a PE ratio of 14.25, a PEG ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $91.46.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th will be issued a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

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.