Xponance Inc. Acquires 18,457 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Xponance Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 603,596 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,457 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.5% of Xponance Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $60,046,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $26,390,000. Evoke Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 18,027 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 4,303 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 30,893 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 2,621 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 15,875 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,579,000 after purchasing an additional 2,357 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kensington Investment Counsel LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Kensington Investment Counsel LLC now owns 39,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,324 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $94.84 on Tuesday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $93.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.62. The stock has a market cap of $239.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.14%.

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

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. 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. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

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.