Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC Increases Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,426 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,601 shares during the period. Mill Creek Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $397,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,083,000 after buying an additional 1,032 shares during the period. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 776,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,227,000 after buying an additional 19,679 shares during the period. Finally, Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,503,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of 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. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of 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. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s 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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MRK opened at $86.52 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $98.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $106.34. 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 stock has a market cap of $218.86 billion, a PE ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $86.27 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.