BLB&B Advisors LLC Has $4.77 Million Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BLB&B Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 47,905 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,957 shares during the period. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,766,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Arcataur Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 27.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 4,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $468,000 after buying an additional 1,025 shares during the last quarter. Platform Technology Partners lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Platform Technology Partners now owns 12,918 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,285,000 after acquiring an additional 901 shares during the last quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Barrett & Company Inc. now owns 6,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $651,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $692,000. Finally, Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 161,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of MRK opened at $87.26 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.87. 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 stock has a market cap of $220.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.29, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.12 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 67.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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 for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.33.

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.