1858 Wealth Management LLC Has $912,000 Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

1858 Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 48.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,169 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,743 shares during the quarter. 1858 Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Avitas Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Avitas Wealth Management LLC now owns 55,585 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,530,000 after acquiring an additional 7,863 shares in the last quarter. James J. Burns & Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $627,000. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Brown Lisle Cummings Inc. now owns 34,182 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,995 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 6,484 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after purchasing an additional 351 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $873,000 after purchasing an additional 526 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $90.99 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $230.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.07, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $87.33 and a one year high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $99.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on MRK. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.67.

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.