Empowered Funds LLC Purchases 72,387 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 320,784 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 72,387 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.5% of Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $31,912,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Moloney Securities Asset Management LLC now owns 13,987 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,391,000 after buying an additional 214 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 133,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,305,000 after buying an additional 2,470 shares during the last quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Counterweight Ventures LLC now owns 22,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,234,000 after buying an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Forbes J M & Co. LLP now owns 165,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,450,000 after buying an additional 2,621 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Byrne Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Byrne Asset Management LLC now owns 3,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $318,000 after buying an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade 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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MRK opened at $87.26 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $220.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.97, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $87.12 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $98.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $106.60.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.