Illumine Investment Management LLC Invests $292,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Illumine Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $292,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Tufton Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 104,684 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,414,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $480,000. Motco boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Motco now owns 135,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,454,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Altrius Capital Management Inc boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 45,306 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,507,000 after buying an additional 6,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. now owns 34,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,007 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of 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. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of MRK opened at $90.58 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $94.75 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $229.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now 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 owned by corporate insiders.

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.