SVB Wealth LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 107,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,658,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Illumine Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $292,000. Tufton Capital Management boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Tufton Capital Management now owns 104,684 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,414,000 after purchasing an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $480,000. Motco grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Motco now owns 135,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,454,000 after purchasing an additional 3,527 shares during the period. Finally, Altrius Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Altrius Capital Management Inc now owns 45,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,507,000 after buying an additional 6,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on MRK shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 1.8 %

Shares of MRK opened at $92.23 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $103.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $232.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase 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 shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 3.51%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s 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.