HC Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 2,010 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

HC Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 2,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. CORDA Investment Management LLC. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. CORDA Investment Management LLC. now owns 317,144 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,549,000 after acquiring an additional 18,054 shares during the last quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.6% in the 4th quarter. Linscomb Wealth Inc. now owns 77,525 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,712,000 after acquiring an additional 6,120 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 528,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,585,000 after acquiring an additional 32,964 shares during the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 11,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $196,881,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $90.58 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $94.75 and its 200 day moving average is $103.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $229.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. 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. Leerink Partners dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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