Advent Capital Management DE Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Advent Capital Management DE grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 400.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,000 shares during the quarter. Advent Capital Management DE’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,487,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. MSH Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $644,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 410,723 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,859,000 after buying an additional 16,837 shares in the last quarter. Stenger Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $298,000. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 60.4% during the 4th quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 111,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,169,000 after acquiring an additional 41,947 shares during the period. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 181.0% in the fourth quarter. Operose Advisors LLC now owns 3,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $392,000 after purchasing an additional 2,536 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners reduced 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 research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $115.50.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE:MRK opened at $78.28 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $88.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $96.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, 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 owned by company insiders.

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.