Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.4% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,689 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,809 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,043,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CGN Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. TI Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,973,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Peterson Wealth Services boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Peterson Wealth Services now owns 21,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,137,000 after buying an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4 %

MRK opened at $93.44 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $93.00 and a 200-day moving average of $101.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $236.03 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price 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 of the company’s stock, 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. Company 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.