Solidarity Wealth LLC Purchases New Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Solidarity Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 18,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,860,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Darwin Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 121.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 326 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 179 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Leerink Partners dropped their price objective on 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.00.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $96.18 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $99.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $109.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a market cap of $243.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.16, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.13 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.37%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.