Florida Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 948 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Florida Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 23.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 5,038 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 948 shares during the quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $501,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares in the last quarter. TI Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,973,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,978,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,137,000 after buying an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $92.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $233.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. 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 $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $92.83 and a 200 day moving average of $100.78.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Truist Financial reaffirmed 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. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Guggenheim dropped their target price 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, February 12th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

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.