Strategic Advisors LLC Buys 893 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.7% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 14,205 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 893 shares during the quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,413,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,608,914,000 after purchasing an additional 3,327,404 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11,876.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,971,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $337,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,946,742 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 748.0% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,149,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,346,000 after acquiring an additional 2,778,388 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 157.9% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 4,264,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $484,231,000 after acquiring an additional 2,610,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 5,388,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $611,924,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,463 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 approximately $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 available through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $83.01 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $209.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $82.09 and a one year high of $134.63. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $97.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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.