Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading 0% Higher – What’s Next?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s stock price was up 0% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $95.43 and last traded at $94.76. Approximately 1,544,630 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 9,951,697 shares. The stock had previously closed at $94.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group dropped 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 report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $236.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $93.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $101.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its 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 net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased 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 directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This 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 corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,399,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $933,761,000 after purchasing an additional 422,382 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.