Investors Sell Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (MRK) on Strength Following Insider Selling

Traders sold shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) on strength during trading hours on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. $77.22 million flowed into the stock on the tick-up and $168.60 million flowed out of the stock on the tick-down, for a money net flow of $91.38 million out of the stock. Of all companies tracked, Merck & Co., Inc. had the 0th highest net out-flow for the day. Merck & Co., Inc. traded up $0.19 for the day and closed at $79.43Specifically, Chairman Kenneth C. Frazier sold 231,566 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $78.08, for a total value of $18,080,673.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 923,516 shares in the company, valued at $72,108,129.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Kenneth C. Frazier sold 92,913 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.03, for a total transaction of $7,435,827.39. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 784,863 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,812,585.89. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 616,533 shares of company stock valued at $48,660,563 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 0.32% of the company’s stock.

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $80.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Wednesday, January 23rd. SunTrust Banks boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley set a $81.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 20th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $79.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 31st. Finally, Argus boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $75.57.

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The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.44. The firm has a market cap of $214.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 2.09 and a beta of 0.62.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 1st. The company reported $1.04 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.01. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 14.71% and a return on equity of 35.10%. The business had revenue of $11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.98 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 4.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.55 per share. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.76%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 14th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 50.69%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, October 25th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 5.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Third Point LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $319,230,000. Chemung Canal Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 82.2% during the third quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 107,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,610,000 after purchasing an additional 48,395 shares in the last quarter. PointState Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $8,513,000. Port Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $1,028,000. Finally, Green Valley Investors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter worth $31,418,000. 72.43% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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About Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co, Inc provides healthcare solutions worldwide. It operates in four segments: Pharmaceutical, Animal Health, Healthcare Services, and Alliances. The company offers therapeutic agents to treat cardiovascular, type 2 diabetes, asthma, nasal allergy, allergic rhinitis, chronic hepatitis C virus, HIV-1 infection, fungal, intra-abdominal, hypertension, arthritis and pain, inflammatory, osteoporosis, and fertility diseases.

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