Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Purchases 2,544 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 122,407 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,544 shares during the quarter. Merck & Co., Inc. comprises 1.3% of Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $13,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. Tandem Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 2,242 shares of the company’s stock valued at $244,000 after buying an additional 256 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 320,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,994,000 after buying an additional 17,468 shares during the period. Key Financial Inc increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 25,861 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,819,000 after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 19,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,097,000 after buying an additional 1,779 shares during the period. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,671 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,708,000 after buying an additional 1,897 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total transaction of $6,420,395.10. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 23,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,991,346.35. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Societe Generale cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $125.36. The stock had a trading volume of 6,122,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,346,982. The company has a market cap of $317.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 893.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 0.38. The business has a fifty day moving average of $126.24 and a 200 day moving average of $114.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a current ratio of 1.25. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $99.14 and a 1 year high of $133.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were paid a dividend of $0.77 per share. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,200.00%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.