Meitav Investment House Ltd. Purchases New Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. $MRK

Meitav Investment House Ltd. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 23,794 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,997,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.4% in the third quarter. Dakota Community Bank & Trust NA now owns 3,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $299,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the third quarter. Security National Bank of Sioux City Iowa IA now owns 3,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $286,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Investors Research Corp lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 9,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $783,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Trust Point Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 14,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,245,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Nicolet Bankshares Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nicolet Bankshares Inc. now owns 6,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 121 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group raised their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 7th. Citigroup raised their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 8th. BMO Capital Markets raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $82.00 to $130.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $112.87.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, EVP David Michael Williams sold 8,614 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.59, for a total value of $720,044.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 24,578 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,054,475.02. The trade was a 25.95% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.13% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.9%

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $108.89 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $102.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $90.09. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $112.90. The stock has a market cap of $270.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.66, a quick ratio of 1.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.08 by ($0.14). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 44.54% and a net margin of 29.63%. Equities research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.85 dividend. This represents a $3.40 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.81. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 44.91%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

Merck & Co, Inc is a global biopharmaceutical company engaged in the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies and animal health products. Its portfolio spans multiple therapeutic areas with a particular emphasis on oncology, vaccines and infectious disease, as well as therapies for metabolic and chronic conditions. Among its well-known products are the cancer immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) and the human papillomavirus vaccine Gardasil; the company also markets a range of medicines and vaccines for veterinary use through Merck Animal Health.

Founded in the late 19th century as the U.S.