Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Stock Price Down 5.4% – Should You Sell?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares were down 5.4% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $87.27 and last traded at $87.30. Approximately 10,580,677 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 16,040,952 shares. The stock had previously closed at $92.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

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 company has a 50-day moving average of $92.83 and a 200-day moving average of $100.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $221.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,979,041,000 after acquiring an additional 1,292,192 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,606,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,474 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after purchasing an additional 4,932,647 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after buying an additional 2,026,859 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $3,479,799,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.