Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC Takes $238,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Purkiss Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $238,000.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Swedbank AB raised its holdings 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 worth $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $43,000. Principal Securities Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the third quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 52,298 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,939,000 after purchasing an additional 617 shares during the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 5,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $579,000 after purchasing an additional 132 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Americana Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.9% in the third quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 22,768 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,586,000 after purchasing an additional 1,071 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the director now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8 %

MRK stock opened at $92.23 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.63 and a 200-day moving average of $103.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $232.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.