Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires 2,517 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Rakuten Securities Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 272.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,440 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,517 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.6 %

MRK opened at $94.65 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $93.87 and a 200 day moving average of $102.25. The firm has a market cap of $239.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.06, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

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.