Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Forte Capital LLC ADV

Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,665 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 780 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after buying an additional 1,836,505 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after buying an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares during the period. Finally, Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $2,080,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on MRK. Citigroup lowered their price objective 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, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

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 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased 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 in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $87.64 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $221.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38. 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 posted 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). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.