Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 403,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 101,000 shares during the quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $40,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $81.48 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $90.90 and its 200 day moving average is $99.18.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally an indication 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.