Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. Buys 112,828 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,582,302 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 112,828 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises approximately 3.2% of Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Lazard Freres Gestion S.A.S. owned approximately 0.06% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $157,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tredje AP fonden lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Tredje AP fonden now owns 803,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,965,000 after purchasing an additional 77,537 shares during the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd now owns 1,848,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,917,000 after purchasing an additional 272,815 shares during the last quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 787 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 272.7% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 3,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 2,517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 230,718 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,952,000 after acquiring an additional 4,518 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $93.44 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $93.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors 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 3.47%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.