Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Acquires 10,658 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 157.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,410 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,658 shares during the period. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Ironwood Wealth Management LLC. now owns 5,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $612,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,807,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 6,158 shares of the company’s stock valued at $671,000 after purchasing an additional 89 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 4,811 shares of the company’s stock worth $524,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Bell Bank lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bell Bank now owns 9,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.2 %

MRK opened at $125.36 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $99.14 and a 52 week high of $133.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $126.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.76. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The company has a market cap of $317.54 billion, a PE ratio of 895.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on MRK shares. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.