Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Up 0.6% – Here’s Why

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) shares traded up 0.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $91.80 and last traded at $91.09. 2,481,643 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 14,953,652 shares. The stock had previously closed at $90.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. UBS Group decreased their price target 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $232.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.63 and a 200-day moving average of $103.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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 net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after buying an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after purchasing an additional 35,525 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in 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 in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $2,080,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,649,000 after purchasing an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.