Meitav Investment House Ltd. Acquires 394,273 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meitav Investment House Ltd. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12,641.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 397,392 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 394,273 shares during the period. Meitav Investment House Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $39,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LMG Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. LMG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 23,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,297,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. Corps Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $502,000. Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.3% during the fourth quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 195,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,404,000 after acquiring an additional 53,967 shares during the period. Private Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Partners LLC now owns 329,171 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,746,000 after acquiring an additional 38,652 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Financial Planning Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. now owns 3,079 shares of the company’s stock worth $306,000 after acquiring an additional 975 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of MRK opened at $85.55 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $95.98 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $216.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business 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. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid 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 3.79%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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.