Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 1,292,192 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 251,096,107 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 0.4% of Vanguard Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.93% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $24,979,041,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company's stock worth $855,119,000 after buying an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company's stock valued at $721,782,000 after purchasing an additional 518,270 shares during the period. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $2,376,000. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $896,000. Finally, Leelyn Smith LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the third quarter. Leelyn Smith LLC now owns 37,836 shares of the company's stock worth $4,297,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 of the company's stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock traded down $0.52 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $87.59. 1,333,343 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,925,275. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $92.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.48. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $221.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.