Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) is Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s 8th Largest Position

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 277,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 36,500 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises about 2.8% of Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $27,606,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $84,895,000. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.2% during the 4th quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 7,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $744,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the last quarter. Smith Moore & CO. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 22,622 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,250,000 after buying an additional 485 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $89,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. UBS Group decreased 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 5.7 %

MRK opened at $81.48 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $81.04 and a one year high of $134.63. The company 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. The business’s fifty day moving average is $90.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $99.18. 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 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). 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $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 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.