McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. Grows Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 40.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,220 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 643 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. accounts for about 0.6% of McClarren Financial Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Naples Global Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Naples Global Advisors LLC now owns 98,179 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,843,000 after purchasing an additional 1,784 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 748.0% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 3,149,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,346,000 after buying an additional 2,778,388 shares in the last quarter. Louisbourg Investments Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.7% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 1,477,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $146,546,000 after acquiring an additional 189,540 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Davidson Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.1% in the fourth quarter. Davidson Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,612 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,344,000 after acquiring an additional 6,318 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on MRK. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. HSBC raised shares of 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. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $85.71 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $216.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $85.61 and a 12 month 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’s 50-day moving average is $98.14 and its 200-day moving average is $105.79.

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

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.