Invesco Ltd. Acquires 2,847,934 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,452,240 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,847,934 shares during the quarter. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.61% of Merck & Co., Inc. worth $1,537,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $3,479,799,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 24,213,537 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,408,763,000 after purchasing an additional 5,550,824 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after buying an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.8% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,872,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,976,911,000 after buying an additional 3,823,283 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 748.0% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,149,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $313,346,000 after purchasing an additional 2,778,388 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $81.48 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $79.58 and a twelve month high of $134.63. 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 stock has a market cap of $205.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $90.90 and a two-hundred day moving average of $98.91.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business 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%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of 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, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.