Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. Purchases 374 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,278 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 374 shares during the period. Retirement Planning Co of New England Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $94.84 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $239.56 billion, a PE ratio of 14.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The business’s fifty day moving average is $93.47 and its 200 day moving average is $101.62. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its 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). The company 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 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business 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 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 yield of 3.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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.