Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading Up 0.9% – Time to Buy?

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) traded up 0.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $83.61 and last traded at $83.51. 3,158,685 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 11,874,962 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.74.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. UBS Group lowered 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 research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $87.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $95.03. 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 firm has a market cap of $209.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.07 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 47.16%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Merck & Co., Inc.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MRK. McGinn Penninger Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. McGinn Penninger Investment Management Inc. now owns 35,115 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,152,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares during the last quarter. Penobscot Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.4% during the first quarter. Penobscot Wealth Management now owns 3,207 shares of the company’s stock valued at $288,000 after acquiring an additional 380 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,281,000 after buying an additional 175 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 22,268 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,999,000 after acquiring an additional 850 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the first quarter. Klingenstein Fields & Co. LP now owns 283,321 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,431,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.