Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Buys 101,000 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 403,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 101,000 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $40,090,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after acquiring an additional 35,525 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $2,080,000. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.7% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 9,399,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $933,761,000 after acquiring an additional 422,382 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. 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 Merck & Co., Inc. 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners dropped their target price 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. Guggenheim reduced their target price 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 5.7 %

MRK stock opened at $81.48 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The business’s 50-day moving average is $90.90 and its 200 day moving average is $99.18. 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 stock has a market cap of $205.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio 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.