Endowment Wealth Management Inc. Has $228,000 Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Endowment Wealth Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 12.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,293 shares of the company’s stock after selling 317 shares during the quarter. Endowment Wealth Management Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $79,000. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 81,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,098,000 after purchasing an additional 3,413 shares in the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 27,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,760,000 after acquiring an additional 6,284 shares in the last quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Gables Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,791,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC now owns 132,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $95.13 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $240.29 billion, a PE ratio of 14.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.96 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.40.

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

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 paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company 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.