Element Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Element Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,000 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the quarter. Element Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Massachusetts Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Wealth Management now owns 22,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,552,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Shayne & Jacobs LLC now owns 5,611 shares of the company’s stock valued at $637,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. First Bank & Trust increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 8,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,021,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Source Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Daiwa America lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $89.40 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $226.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $95.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.