BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp Buys 62,801 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 485,408 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 62,801 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $48,288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 251,096,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,979,041,000 after purchasing an additional 1,292,192 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 80,742,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,032,217,000 after acquiring an additional 4,932,647 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,181,863 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,072,582,000 after acquiring an additional 2,026,859 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $3,479,799,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 31,377,107 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,121,395,000 after acquiring an additional 4,511,742 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 7,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $643,707.28. The trade was a 35.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $77.92 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market cap of $195.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.31 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $82.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $91.89.

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

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $109.19.

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.