Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Sold by Angeles Investment Advisors LLC

Angeles Investment Advisors LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,395 shares of the company’s stock after selling 497 shares during the quarter. Angeles Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $338,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clune & Associates LTD. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $225,000. Crowley Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $274,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,979,041,000 after buying an additional 1,292,192 shares in the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. Meridian Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,967 shares of the company’s stock worth $295,000 after acquiring an additional 410 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, 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. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $93.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $236.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $81.04 and a one year high of $134.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $93.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $100.97.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.