Securian Asset Management Inc. Has $13.53 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Securian Asset Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 135,956 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,240 shares during the period. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,525,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Lakes Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,141,311 shares of the company’s stock worth $113,538,000 after buying an additional 7,549 shares during the last quarter. Hopwood Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $106,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 24,975 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 688 shares during the period. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Knuff & Co LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Knuff & Co LLC now owns 12,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value 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 $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America reduced their target price 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. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $94.65 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market cap of $239.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $93.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $102.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm’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. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced 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 purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

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.