Oak Harvest Investment Services Has $4.85 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Oak Harvest Investment Services grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 48,729 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,190 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,848,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norris Perne & French LLP MI lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Norris Perne & French LLP MI now owns 255,796 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,447,000 after purchasing an additional 909 shares in the last quarter. Fiduciary Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Wealth Investment Group LLC now owns 55,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,555,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.2% in the fourth quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 954,936 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,706,000 after acquiring an additional 179,836 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $900,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $136.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays cut their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $98.91 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $250.21 billion, a PE ratio of 20.74, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $99.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.06. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.13 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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

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.