State of Michigan Retirement System Grows Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

State of Michigan Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 719,590 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,300 shares during the quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $71,585,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Bravias Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $322,000. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 76.2% in the 4th quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 27,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,740,000 after purchasing an additional 11,914 shares during the period. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 16,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares during the period. Kelly Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $271,000. Finally, Silver Coast Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.1% during the fourth quarter. Silver Coast Investments LLC now owns 2,960 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of MRK opened at $93.19 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $235.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $94.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.15. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.48%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America cut 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 research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents 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 on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 owned by corporate 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.