Conscious Wealth Investments LLC Grows Stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Conscious Wealth Investments LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,439 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,834 shares during the period. Conscious Wealth Investments LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $2,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of MRK. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,759,800,000 after buying an additional 1,836,505 shares during the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,080,000. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.40 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm has a market cap of $226.14 billion, a PE ratio of 13.28, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $104.10.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given 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 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 1st. 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 report on Wednesday, December 4th. TD Securities cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

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.