Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Acquires 3,002 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated grew its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,022 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,002 shares during the quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 5,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $545,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares during the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.9% during the fourth quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 3,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.1% in the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 7,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,359,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 82,486 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,206,000 after buying an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of MRK opened at $87.97 on Friday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $87.33 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. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $99.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.44, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 19.23% and a return on equity of 36.42%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on MRK. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. 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 research report on Friday, November 1st. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.33.

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.