442 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Purchased by New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC

New Wave Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 442 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after acquiring an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after purchasing an additional 35,525 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after purchasing an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,135,785,000 after purchasing an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock valued at $208,649,000 after buying an additional 62,047 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Leerink Partners cut 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 report on Monday, January 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $98.80 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $94.48 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $249.93 billion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

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.