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

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 177,669 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 341% compared to the typical volume of 40,313 put options.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $84.35 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $84.31 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $97.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.65. The firm has a market cap of $213.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given 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 dividend yield of 3.84%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of MRK. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 26.2% in the fourth quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 3,101,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $308,413,000 after purchasing an additional 643,991 shares in the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. now owns 12,421 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 1,235 shares during the period. Ally Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.2% during the 4th quarter. Ally Financial Inc. now owns 97,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,650,000 after buying an additional 32,000 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 43.2% in the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 5,817,886 shares of the company’s stock worth $578,763,000 after purchasing an additional 1,755,552 shares during the period. Finally, GKV Capital Management Co. Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $85,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America dropped 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.06.

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.