Lyell Wealth Management LP Acquires 152 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lyell Wealth Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,714 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 152 shares during the period. Lyell Wealth Management LP’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $668,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares in the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 201.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 10,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after purchasing an additional 7,079 shares in the last quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 47,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,409,000 after purchasing an additional 1,954 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Community Financial Services Group LLC now owns 61,825 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,021,000 after purchasing an additional 3,671 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were 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. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $83.25 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average of $96.26 and a 200 day moving average of $104.62. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $210.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.37, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior 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 fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued 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 dividend yield of 3.89%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

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.