Jacobi Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,789 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,498 shares during the quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $6,147,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% during the fourth quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MRK opened at $92.23 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.44.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

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.