Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Traders bought 74,214 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 112% compared to the typical volume of 34,994 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on MRK shares. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $99.79 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $99.83 and its 200-day moving average is $107.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $252.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.25%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $325,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after purchasing an additional 427,831 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.0% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 516,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,639,000 after purchasing an additional 33,717 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 15.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 45,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,158,000 after purchasing an additional 6,007 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.