Arcataur Capital Management LLC Has $468,000 Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Arcataur Capital Management LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 27.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,701 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Platform Technology Partners lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 12,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 6,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $651,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $692,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 161,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares during the period. Finally, Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,737,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $87.26 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.12 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $99.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.87.

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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.