Pathway Financial Advisors LLC Acquires New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Pathway Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 2,704 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 11.2% during the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 27,331 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,719,000 after acquiring an additional 2,760 shares during the period. MOKAN Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $3,919,000. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 127,124 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,646,000 after purchasing an additional 4,390 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $2,990,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 91,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,731,000 after purchasing an additional 22,006 shares in 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 recent analyst reports. Guggenheim reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.06.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $83.01 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $82.09 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The company has a fifty day moving average of $97.04 and a 200-day moving average of $105.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired 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. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

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.