Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. Purchases 2,001 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 323,526 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,001 shares during the quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $32,184,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the third quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the third quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now 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 position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $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 corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $93.22 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.94. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $235.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.85, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.48%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

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.