Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 19,872,444 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,823,283 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,976,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

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

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through 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 value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8 %

MRK stock opened at $89.18 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $91.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $100.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $225.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

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

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.