Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's 10th Largest Position

Abacus FCF Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 175.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 123,803 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 78,938 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.6% of Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC's holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,316,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.5% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,564,276 shares of the company's stock worth $177,639,000 after buying an additional 327,426 shares in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.3% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,554,497 shares of the company's stock valued at $176,529,000 after buying an additional 144,961 shares in the last quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% in the third quarter. Cape Cod Five Cents Savings Bank now owns 13,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,649,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Hamilton Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. Hamilton Capital LLC now owns 4,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $512,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Securities cut 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. 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 $1.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $79.14. The company had a trading volume of 16,176,635 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,512,141. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $75.96 and a 12 month high of $134.63. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $199.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a fifty day moving average of $88.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.39.

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 (EPS) 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.