Saiph Capital LLC Has $342,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Saiph Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 25.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,437 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 697 shares during the quarter. Saiph Capital LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

MRK stock opened at $94.69 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $239.18 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $93.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.45.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted 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 business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Bank of America cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

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.