Confluence Wealth Services Inc. Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Confluence Wealth Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 42,660 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Country Club Bank increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Country Club Bank now owns 86,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,553,000 after acquiring an additional 1,134 shares in the last quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 171.7% during the 4th quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 37,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,730,000 after purchasing an additional 23,700 shares in the last quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Weaver Capital Management LLC now owns 16,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares in the last quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.5% in the fourth quarter. Groesbeck Investment Management Corp NJ now owns 9,235 shares of the company’s stock worth $919,000 after buying an additional 1,755 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $1,522,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $90.99 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $87.33 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The business’s 50 day moving average is $99.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.12. The company has a market capitalization of $230.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its 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 analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Daiwa Capital Markets cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.20.

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.