Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 166,895 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,719 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,603,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Swedbank AB raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 1,493 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 571,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,931,000 after acquiring an additional 48,368 shares during the period. M&G PLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 21.5% in the 3rd quarter. M&G PLC now owns 536,576 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,170,000 after acquiring an additional 94,981 shares during the period. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.7% in the 3rd quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 22,885 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,599,000 after acquiring an additional 4,540 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $93.93 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $102.87. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $237.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.96, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company 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 3.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 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 repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. TD Cowen 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 note on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Securities downgraded shares of 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 note on Monday, February 10th. 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.