Merck & Co., Inc. Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:MRK)

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 74,214 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 112% compared to the typical daily volume of 34,994 call options.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 8.8 %

NYSE MRK opened at $90.99 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $230.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.33 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $107.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Merck & Co., Inc.

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. GraniteShares Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,714,000. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 71.4% during the 4th quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 44,374 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,450,000 after buying an additional 18,482 shares during the last quarter. Strategent Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth about $358,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 387,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,523,000 after acquiring an additional 8,564 shares during the period. Finally, Weinberger Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Weinberger Asset Management Inc now owns 8,844 shares of the company’s stock worth $880,000 after buying an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.