Advent Capital Management DE Has $2.49 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Advent Capital Management DE raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 400.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,000 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,000 shares during the quarter. Advent Capital Management DE's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,487,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven 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 company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $115.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK traded up $1.47 on Friday, hitting $77.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 21,305,423 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,712,162. The company has a market capitalization of $196.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $87.47 and a 200-day moving average of $96.27. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $75.93 and a 12-month 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company's management believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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.