Summa Corp. Invests $506,000 in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Summa Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 53,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,347,000 after buying an additional 1,382 shares during the period. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,423,000. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 48,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,790,000 after buying an additional 511 shares during the period. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,660,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $762,082,000 after buying an additional 130,541 shares during the period. Finally, Field & Main Bank raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Field & Main Bank now owns 18,878 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,878,000 after purchasing an additional 785 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $98.23 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.13. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $248.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.13 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partners lowered their target price 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.67.

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.