Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Flagship Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 2,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $283,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Life Planners bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $94.72 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $239.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. 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. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $93.57 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.78.

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 analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 EPS. Analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on MRK. Leerink Partners lowered 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 research note on Monday, January 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

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.