GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. Sells 1,944 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

GW Henssler & Associates Ltd. cut its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 163,175 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,944 shares during the period. GW Henssler & Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $16,233,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 52.7% in the 4th quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 2,226 shares in the last quarter. McAdam LLC raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 18,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,857,000 after acquiring an additional 713 shares in the last quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Jacobsen Capital Management now owns 3,594 shares of the company’s stock valued at $358,000 after purchasing an additional 233 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% in the fourth quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 103,434 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,290,000 after purchasing an additional 1,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cross Staff Investments Inc increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Cross Staff Investments Inc now owns 7,398 shares of the company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $98.80 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $99.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $249.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $94.48 and a 52 week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.07. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.13 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on MRK. 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. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $121.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.67.

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.