Summit Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 11.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 62,119 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 6,431 shares during the quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,180,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company's stock worth $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares in the last quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 5,067 shares of the company's stock worth $575,000 after purchasing an additional 162 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% in the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 22,812 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,591,000 after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares in the last quarter. Wealthquest Corp increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthquest Corp now owns 16,457 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,888,000 after buying an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 111,057 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,540,000 after buying an additional 14,780 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $115.50.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on Merck & Co., Inc.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance
MRK stock traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $78.28. 16,039,392 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,584,763. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $75.96 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.75 billion, a PE ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.03 and a 200-day simple moving average of $96.91. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last released 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.
Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.
Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.
About Merck & Co., Inc.
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
Before you consider Merck & Co., Inc., you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Merck & Co., Inc. wasn't on the list.
While Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a Moderate Buy rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
If a company's CEO, COO, and CFO were all selling shares of their stock, would you want to know? MarketBeat just compiled its list of the twelve stocks that corporate insiders are abandoning. Complete the form below to see which companies made the list.
Get This Free Report
