Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Trading 1.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)’s share price rose 1.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $96.34 and last traded at $94.86. Approximately 7,627,339 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 10,083,569 shares. The stock had previously closed at $93.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. TD Cowen downgraded shares of 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $239.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.99. 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 issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after acquiring an additional 35,525 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares in the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $2,080,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% during the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

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.