2,812 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Acquired by Centerpoint Advisory Group

Centerpoint Advisory Group acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 2,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. bLong Financial LLC purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at $2,018,000. Ellis Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 26,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. TigerOak Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $343,000. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.2% in the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 144,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,408,000 after buying an additional 9,767 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vivid Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Vivid Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $213,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired 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 owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of MRK opened at $83.01 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $97.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.19. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $82.09 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $209.99 billion, a PE ratio of 12.33, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict 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 approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 $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 dividend yield of 3.90%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.06.

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.