Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 450 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 25,572 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 450 shares during the quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,544,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Orca Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $759,000. Stonegate Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Stonegate Investment Group LLC now owns 27,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,751,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. VCI Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,084,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Charter Oak Capital Management LLC now owns 13,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,352,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 56,874 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,658,000 after purchasing an additional 10,852 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $136.00 to $105.00 in a report on Friday, December 20th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $155.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. 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, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $97.49 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $246.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

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 given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.32%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.