Bell Bank Buys 348 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bell Bank lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,521 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 348 shares during the quarter. Bell Bank’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Boyd Watterson Asset Management LLC OH now owns 30,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,072,000 after purchasing an additional 1,521 shares during the period. Greystone Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 545.3% in the 4th quarter. Greystone Financial Group LLC now owns 83,970 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,353,000 after buying an additional 70,958 shares during the last quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Peregrine Asset Advisers Inc. now owns 15,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,589,000 after acquiring an additional 390 shares during the period. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% during the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $833,000 after acquiring an additional 560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Stockton lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 6,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $609,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $89.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a fifty day moving average of $95.46 and a 200 day moving average of $104.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.