Sierra Summit Advisors LLC Has $912,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Sierra Summit Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 32.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 9,171 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 2,231 shares during the period. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup lowered their price target 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. Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 5.7 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $81.48 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $205.83 billion, a PE ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $79.58 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The business’s fifty day moving average is $90.90 and its 200 day moving average is $98.91. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.98%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

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.