Summa Corp. Buys Shares of 5,080 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Summa Corp. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 5,080 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,262,000 after acquiring an additional 35,525 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company's stock worth $208,649,000 after buying an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded up $0.56 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $98.84. 5,829,134 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,716,202. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $99.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.06. The company has a market cap of $250.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business's revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial restated a "hold" rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. UBS Group cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "market perform" rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.67.

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.