Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $359,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 75.4% in the 3rd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 131,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,924,000 after purchasing an additional 56,495 shares during the period. Truvestments Capital LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.9% during the 3rd quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $458,000 after purchasing an additional 903 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 5,152,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $585,067,000 after buying an additional 145,333 shares during the period. Finally, West Tower Group LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at approximately $273,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on MRK shares. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC upgraded 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 Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of MRK opened at $87.88 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $221.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.57.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.69%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

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.