Barrett & Company Inc. Has $651,000 Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Barrett & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,545 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the quarter. Barrett & Company Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth $692,000. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Beese Fulmer Investment Management Inc. now owns 161,843 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,266 shares during the period. Fairvoy Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $1,737,000. Keystone Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $150,000. Finally, BSN CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $26,100,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa Capital Markets lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of MRK stock opened at $87.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $222.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $87.33 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $99.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.87.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). The business had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.03 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 67.92%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.