Cullen Investment Group LTD. Acquires 12,128 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 110,189 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,128 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.5% of Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Cullen Investment Group LTD.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $9,891,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $109.19.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK opened at $76.17 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.31 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $191.27 billion, a PE ratio of 11.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $80.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $90.95.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.07 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.16%.

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.