Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Black Diamond Financial LLC

Black Diamond Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 26.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,097 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,076 shares during the period. Black Diamond Financial LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $507,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. South Dakota Investment Council increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 212,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,138,000 after purchasing an additional 1,600 shares in the last quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 55.9% during the fourth quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 872,029 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,749,000 after purchasing an additional 312,500 shares in the last quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Delta Financial Group Inc. now owns 28,278 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,813,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.4% during the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 17,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,388 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Sigma Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 6,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $675,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.0 %

MRK stock opened at $89.40 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $95.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.10. The firm has a market cap of $226.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business 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 is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was 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 the SEC website. 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.