Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC

Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,075 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Allen Mooney & Barnes Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,296,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 417,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,484,000 after buying an additional 30,562 shares during the last quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Community Trust & Investment Co. now owns 29,607 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,945,000 after buying an additional 816 shares during the last quarter. Floyd Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $445,000. Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $678,000. Finally, Accurate Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,669 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after buying an additional 1,630 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Leerink Partners lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Barclays dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, UBS Group reduced their price target on 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 given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $99.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $100.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $252.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.73 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 Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.25%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

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.