Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL Sells 1,000 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL reduced its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,205 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Source Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Tradewinds LLC. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. CGN Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after acquiring an additional 103 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $94.71 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $94.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $102.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a market cap of $239.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 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%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 acquisition, 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 position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on MRK. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.