Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC Takes Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,537 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Woodstock Corp grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Woodstock Corp now owns 125,551 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,490,000 after buying an additional 611 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. now owns 64,950 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,461,000 after acquiring an additional 18,000 shares during the period. Goldstone Financial Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Goldstone Financial Group LLC now owns 4,129 shares of the company’s stock valued at $411,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the period. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 39.3% in the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 50,213 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,995,000 after acquiring an additional 14,161 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Decker Retirement Planning Inc. bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth $56,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $155.00 price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 price target (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $142.00 to $140.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.67.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of MRK stock opened at $100.72 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $254.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.39. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $94.48 and a 12-month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $100.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 31st. The company reported $1.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.50 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $16.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.47 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The company’s revenue was up 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $2.13 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.22%. This is a positive change from Merck & Co., Inc.’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.77. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is currently 67.92%.

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.