Benson Investment Management Company Inc. Purchases Shares of 59,360 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 59,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,328,000. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 2.3% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $77.07 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $79.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $90.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $193.53 billion, a PE ratio of 11.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 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 results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 47.16%.

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.