3,281 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Bought by RD Lewis Holdings Inc.

RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 3,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the third 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. raised its position 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 worth $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 45.1% in the third quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after buying an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the third quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 33,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after buying an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $695,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. 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 directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $94.84 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $93.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $101.62. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $239.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current 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 paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.