Petros Family Wealth LLC Acquires Shares of 2,110 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Petros Family Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Monetary Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Monetary Management Group Inc. now owns 13,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,374,000 after acquiring an additional 775 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Trust Co acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,196,000. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Jaffetilchin Investment Partners LLC now owns 29,390 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,924,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares in the last quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.3% in the 4th quarter. Eley Financial Management Inc now owns 14,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,470,000 after purchasing an additional 3,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd boosted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 116.9% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 2,490 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after buying an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $79.14 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $88.43 and its 200 day moving average is $97.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $75.96 and a one year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $199.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.76, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.03 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th were given a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now directly 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lowered 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. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.50.

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.