Savvy Advisors Inc. Acquires 195 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Savvy Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,343 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 195 shares during the quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the period. TI Trust Inc. grew its holdings 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 increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 39,989 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,978,000 after buying an additional 112 shares during the period. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the company’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 purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $79.14 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $75.96 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $88.43 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $97.28. The stock has a market cap of $199.91 billion, a PE ratio of 11.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.