Marco Investment Management LLC Has $9.51 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Marco Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 95,610 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,727 shares during the period. Marco Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,511,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB boosted 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 worth $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.2% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 571,781 shares of the company’s stock worth $64,931,000 after purchasing an additional 48,368 shares in the last quarter. M&G PLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.5% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 536,576 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,170,000 after purchasing an additional 94,981 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.7% during the third quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 22,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,599,000 after purchasing an additional 4,540 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 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. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. UBS Group reduced their price target 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. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $93.93 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a market capitalization of $237.26 billion, a PE ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board 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 given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend 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.