Unigestion Holding SA Has $2.41 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Unigestion Holding SA trimmed its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 58.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 24,218 shares of the company’s stock after selling 34,567 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares during the period. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. Texas Capital Bank Wealth Management Services Inc now owns 2,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $271,000 after purchasing an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 81.5% in the 3rd quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 221,054 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,103,000 after acquiring an additional 99,236 shares during the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.5% in the third quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 217,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,656,000 after purchasing an additional 27,461 shares during the period. Finally, iA Global Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the third quarter. iA Global Asset Management Inc. now owns 181,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,581,000 after acquiring an additional 2,353 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on MRK. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $81.48 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $205.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $90.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $99.05.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders 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 (DPR) is currently 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.