Bank of Jackson Hole Trust Buys Shares of 8,461 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bank of Jackson Hole Trust bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 8,461 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $842,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company's stock worth $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company's stock worth $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 201.3% during the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 10,596 shares of the company's stock worth $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 7,079 shares during the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 47,635 shares of the company's stock worth $5,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 61,825 shares of the company's stock worth $7,021,000 after acquiring an additional 3,671 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade 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 link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock traded up $1.72 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $89.40. 15,641,321 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,774,290. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a share buyback 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 usually an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.