Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. Buys 595,105 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 17.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,041,922 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 595,105 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 2.2% of Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $402,090,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’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 sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $89.18 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $91.92 and its 200 day moving average price is $100.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $225.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Leerink Partners cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Eleven investment 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

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.