Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA Boosts Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 176.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,640 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,686 shares during the quarter. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. CA’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $263,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of MRK opened at $92.39 on Tuesday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The company has a market capitalization of $233.39 billion, a PE ratio of 13.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $92.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $100.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered 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 report on Wednesday, February 5th. UBS Group dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on 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. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.