TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. Buys 448 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

TCI Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,221 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 448 shares during the period. TCI Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,017,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Algert Global LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $325,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Creekside Partners purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the second quarter valued at about $254,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 85.9% in the second quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,058,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,980,000 after purchasing an additional 489,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.4% during the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 12,878 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,594,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.6 %

MRK stock opened at $98.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $250.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $94.48 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.00. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on MRK. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $123.00 to $113.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Barclays reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

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.