Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Waterloo Capital L.P.

Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,154 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Titleist Asset Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.7% during the fourth quarter. Titleist Asset Management LLC now owns 4,198 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Mirabaud Asset Management Ltd now owns 15,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,549,000 after buying an additional 3,719 shares during the period. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 403,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,090,000 after acquiring an additional 101,000 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,080,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $305,718,000 after acquiring an additional 310,850 shares during the period. Finally, Rahlfs Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $530,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup decreased 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 note on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on 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 issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.4 %

MRK opened at $81.11 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $79.30 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $204.88 billion, a PE ratio of 12.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $90.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $98.66.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.