Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Makes New $84.90 Million Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 853,137 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $84,895,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.2% in the fourth quarter. Pioneer Trust Bank N A OR now owns 7,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $744,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the period. Smith Moore & CO. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Smith Moore & CO. now owns 22,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,250,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. PAX Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. PAX Financial Group LLC now owns 4,074 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $89,000. Finally, Yoffe Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $887,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $81.48 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $205.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $90.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.98%. 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 authorized a share buyback 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on MRK shares. UBS Group decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America lowered 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. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.