Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC Sells 271 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 16,865 shares of the company’s stock after selling 271 shares during the period. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,674,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Liberty One Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% during the fourth quarter. Liberty One Investment Management LLC now owns 36,247 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,606,000 after purchasing an additional 3,916 shares during the period. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Stillwater Capital Advisors LLC now owns 181,997 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,105,000 after buying an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. Clarius Group LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Clarius Group LLC now owns 24,032 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,391,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 20.2% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 2,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $269,000 after buying an additional 455 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,126,000 after acquiring an additional 3,691 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on MRK. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Daiwa America downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Leerink Partners decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 2.7 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $98.00 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $100.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $109.72. 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 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $247.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.55, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.13 earnings per share. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This is an increase from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 67.92%.

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.