Kentucky Trust Co Buys Shares of 9,492 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kentucky Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 9,492 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $944,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. AM Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, 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. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of MRK opened at $86.52 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $98.44 and a 200 day moving average of $106.06. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $85.73 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $218.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. 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 data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of 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 upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.94.

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.