Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Sells 6,487 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 37.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,818 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,487 shares during the period. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 83.7% in the fourth quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 316 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. 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 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost 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 approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $92.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.63 and a 200-day moving average of $103.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $232.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly 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 the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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.