Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by Oak Harvest Investment Services

Oak Harvest Investment Services boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,729 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,190 shares during the quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services’ holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,848,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. AM Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth approximately $34,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 3rd quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. Daiwa Capital Markets cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $110.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $98.91 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $250.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $99.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $108.06. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $94.48 and a 1 year high of $134.63. 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. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $16.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s quarterly revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.28%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in 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 board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

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.