Corps Capital Advisors LLC Makes New $502,000 Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Corps Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. AM Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Insider Transactions 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 shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.7 %

NYSE MRK opened at $85.55 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $95.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $104.49. 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 fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $216.42 billion, a PE ratio of 12.71, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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). 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. 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 authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.