Arizona State Retirement System Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 735,667 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 9,450 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 0.4% of Arizona State Retirement System's portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Arizona State Retirement System's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $73,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company's stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company's stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company's stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company's stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company's stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.7 %

NYSE MRK traded up $0.66 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $93.22. 13,113,648 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,975,985. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $102.94. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $235.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.'s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.48%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.