WR Wealth Planners LLC Reduces Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

WR Wealth Planners LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 204 shares during the period. WR Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $167,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% in the third quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during 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. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Citigroup reduced 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. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $92.23 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $94.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $103.37. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $232.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. 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 announced 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the purchase, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $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. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.