Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Napatree Capital LLC

Napatree Capital LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 13.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,220 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the quarter. Napatree Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 410 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,203,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $318,733,000 after buying an additional 345,513 shares in the last quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Banco de Sabadell S.A now owns 11,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,113,000 after buying an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.3% in the fourth quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 2,163 shares of the company’s stock valued at $215,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mosley Wealth Management increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.2% in the fourth quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 3,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 858 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $93.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $236.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company’s 50-day moving average is $93.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.07. 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 posted its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock 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 purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

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.