May Hill Capital LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

May Hill Capital LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 6,029 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $600,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth about $34,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America decreased their target price on 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. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Securities downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $89.74 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $226.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.33, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The business’s 50 day moving average is $91.75 and its 200 day moving average is $99.82.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program 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 programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

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

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought 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 in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.