OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 15.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 230,181 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,657 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total transaction of $352,723.12. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $643,707.28. This trade represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on MRK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $111.13.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $80.28 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $75.82 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $85.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $92.97. The firm has a market cap of $201.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase 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. 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.