Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 39.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 120,645 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 33,845 shares during the period. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $12,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,782,000 after purchasing an additional 518,270 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% in the third quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,242,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,858,000 after purchasing an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.2% during the 3rd quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after buying an additional 1,262 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE MRK opened at $94.69 on Wednesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $93.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $101.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback plan 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 plans are often 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup dropped their target price 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. TD Cowen downgraded shares of 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 research note on Monday, February 10th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.