Linscomb Wealth Inc. Acquires 6,120 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Linscomb Wealth Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 77,525 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,120 shares during the period. Linscomb Wealth Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $7,712,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 528,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,585,000 after purchasing an additional 32,964 shares in the last quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 62.6% in the 4th quarter. Motiv8 Investments LLC now owns 11,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,125,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the period. Alecta Tjanstepension Omsesidigt acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth approximately $196,881,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 9,584.4% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 1,075,549 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,996,000 after buying an additional 1,064,443 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 478,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,626,000 after buying an additional 53,953 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Daiwa America lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $90.58 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $229.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a 50 day moving average of $94.75 and a 200-day moving average of $103.59. Merck & Co., Inc. has a one year low of $81.04 and a one year high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.58%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share buyback 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 generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are 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.