Human Investing LLC Trims Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Human Investing LLC trimmed its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 5,267 shares of the company’s stock after selling 503 shares during the quarter. Human Investing LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $524,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 13,732 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 15,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,535,000 after purchasing an additional 365 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,502,635 shares of the company’s stock worth $646,882,000 after purchasing an additional 146,685 shares in the last quarter. Americana Partners LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 863.4% during the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 219,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,821,000 after purchasing an additional 196,586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 14,205 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 893 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on MRK. Leerink Partners cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen cut 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. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $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. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $83.01 on Monday. 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 has a market cap of $209.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50-day moving average of $97.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.12. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $82.09 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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

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.