Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Has $146.55 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,477,678 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 189,540 shares during the quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $146,546,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 119,026,412 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,606,360,000 after purchasing an additional 1,536,474 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 75,809,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,608,914,000 after buying an additional 3,327,404 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,155,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,696,060,000 after buying an additional 2,134,296 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after buying an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 17,756,021 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,016,374,000 after buying an additional 309,656 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America decreased 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.94.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased 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 owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $86.52 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $98.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.06. The company has a market cap of $218.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $85.73 and a twelve month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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

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.