bLong Financial LLC Purchases Shares of 20,285 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

bLong Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 20,285 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,018,000. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up about 1.7% of bLong Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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, UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.7 %

MRK stock opened at $83.01 on Friday. 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. has a twelve month low of $82.09 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $97.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 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 the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

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.