Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 40,940,000 shares, a growth of 27.1% from the February 13th total of 32,210,000 shares. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 14,400,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 111 Capital acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $874,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,560,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $155,238,000 after purchasing an additional 231,927 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 141,377 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,064,000 after purchasing an additional 5,150 shares during the period. Members Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $281,000. Finally, Lansforsakringar Fondforvaltning AB publ acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $90,865,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MRK traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $94.69. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,664,503 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,979,222. 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 $93.47 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $101.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock 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 dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

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.