Altrius Capital Management Inc Acquires 6,378 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Altrius Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,306 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 6,378 shares during the quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Pettyjohn Wood & White Inc. now owns 34,973 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,479,000 after purchasing an additional 2,007 shares during the last quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.5% in the fourth quarter. Fielder Capital Group LLC now owns 3,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 2,107 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Argyle Capital Management LLC now owns 58,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,781,000 after acquiring an additional 4,467 shares during the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 20,118 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,001,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Hilltop Partners LLC now owns 10,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after acquiring an additional 933 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given 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, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $90.58 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $94.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $229.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. 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. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.