Bank of New York Mellon Corp Buys 5,550,824 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 29.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 24,213,537 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,550,824 shares during the quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,408,763,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stack Financial Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Stack Financial Management Inc now owns 225,340 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,417,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 7,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. BankPlus Trust Department bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $601,000. Holistic Financial Partners increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 4,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $457,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northwest Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Northwest Capital Management Inc now owns 15,375 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,530,000 after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on MRK. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partners lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.9 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $91.22 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market cap of $230.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.55, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $95.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.94.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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.