Arizona State Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 735,667 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,450 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 0.4% of Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $73,184,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Aigen Investment Management LP increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 76.7% in the fourth quarter. Aigen Investment Management LP now owns 43,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,367,000 after purchasing an additional 19,057 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.4% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,540,000 after acquiring an additional 4,373 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 166,895 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,603,000 after purchasing an additional 19,719 shares during the period. NewSquare Capital LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 63,370 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,181,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares during the period. Finally, J.Safra Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 137.5% during the 4th quarter. J.Safra Asset Management Corp now owns 2,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 1,709 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Finally, Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $92.56 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $103.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a market capitalization of $233.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63.

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). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal 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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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.