Texas Bank & Trust Co Invests $1.33 Million in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Texas Bank & Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 13,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,331,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in MRK. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after purchasing an additional 35,525 shares during the last quarter. Napatree Capital LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Napatree Capital LLC now owns 4,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 485 shares during the last quarter. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC now owns 56,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,601,000 after purchasing an additional 8,461 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 102.2% in the 4th quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 45,057 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,482,000 after purchasing an additional 22,775 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $84.00 target price (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.7%

NYSE MRK opened at $76.08 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $191.03 billion, a PE ratio of 11.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $73.31 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $83.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.16 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.59 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.13% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.