RD Lewis Holdings Inc. Purchases Shares of 3,281 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

RD Lewis Holdings Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 3,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $326,000.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of MRK. Swedbank AB boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,782,000 after purchasing an additional 518,270 shares in the last quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 45.1% during the 3rd quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,929 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,809,000 after purchasing an additional 4,954 shares in the last quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Glass Wealth Management Co LLC now owns 33,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,778,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aljian Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth $695,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target 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. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the 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 directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was 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 currently owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.3 %

MRK stock opened at $94.84 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $93.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.09, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are 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.