WR Wealth Planners LLC Has $167,000 Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

WR Wealth Planners LLC lowered its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 10.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,683 shares of the company’s stock after selling 204 shares during the quarter. WR Wealth Planners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of MRK. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the third quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,571,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the third quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the third quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after buying an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC increased its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% during the third quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Friday, November 15th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on 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 Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 1.8 %

MRK opened at $92.23 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $103.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $232.98 billion, a PE ratio of 13.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. 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 3.51%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

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

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value 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 trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.