YANKCOM Partnership acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Free Report) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm acquired 13,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,359,000.
A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 82,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,206,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the period. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.2% in the fourth quarter. Long Run Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 36,765 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,657,000 after buying an additional 5,134 shares during the period. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Centennial Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $483,000 after acquiring an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Inman Jager Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,369,000. Finally, Tyche Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 64.3% in the 4th quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC now owns 12,756 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,269,000 after purchasing an additional 4,991 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.
Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.3 %
NYSE:MRK opened at $89.52 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $226.46 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.12. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $87.33 and a 12 month high of $134.63.
Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.
Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.
Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement
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 $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.
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.
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