Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by AIA Group Ltd

AIA Group Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 58.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 545,935 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 200,498 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 1.3% of AIA Group Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $54,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. FSB Premier Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,283 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 282,112 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,065,000 after acquiring an additional 24,336 shares during the last quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Walled Lake Planning & Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,640 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,640,000 after purchasing an additional 942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RWA Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. RWA Wealth Partners LLC now owns 546,590 shares of the company’s stock worth $54,375,000 after purchasing an additional 207,497 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on MRK. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets reduced 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 research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven equities research 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.18 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $225.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a 50-day moving average of $91.92 and a 200 day moving average of $100.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

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

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.