Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Acquired by Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.

Shoker Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,035 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 364 shares during the period. Shoker Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. AMF Tjanstepension AB boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after acquiring an additional 427,831 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Diversify Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.8% during the third quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,935 shares during the period. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.0% in the 3rd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,407 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,090,000 after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiducient Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fiducient Advisors LLC now owns 3,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $393,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired 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 $258,837.25. This trade 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $90.58 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $94.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $103.59. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-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 stock has a market cap of $229.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved 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 repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company 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 is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.14%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Leerink Partners reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

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.