L.K. Benson & Company P.C. Makes New $215,000 Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

L.K. Benson & Company P.C. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 2,160 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Swedbank AB raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares in the last quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. New England Asset Management Inc. now owns 37,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,242,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Chesapeake Wealth Management boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the third quarter. Chesapeake Wealth Management now owns 16,361 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,858,000 after acquiring an additional 244 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verity & Verity LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 37.2% in the third quarter. Verity & Verity LLC now owns 4,659 shares of the company’s stock worth $529,000 after purchasing an additional 1,262 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on MRK. UBS Group dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Truist Financial reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Leerink Partners reduced their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.1 %

MRK stock opened at $94.69 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $239.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. 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 business’s 50-day moving average is $93.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $101.45. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

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

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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 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 company insiders.

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.