Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by National Bank of Canada FI

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,597,456 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 577,363 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.18% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $457,361,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 purchase, 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price 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. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $89.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $226.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $99.82.

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 analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 3.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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.