1,066 Shares in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Acquired by Hopwood Financial Services Inc.

Hopwood Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm acquired 1,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $106,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Tradewinds LLC. boosted its position in shares of 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 period. CGN Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 period. Accredited Investors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the third quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 11,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,344,000 after buying an additional 109 shares during the period. Cypress Wealth Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Cypress Wealth Services LLC now owns 3,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $362,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. Finally, TI Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 19,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,973,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin acquired 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, TD Cowen cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 1.4 %

Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $93.44 on Thursday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1-year low of $81.04 and a 1-year high of $134.63. 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 $236.04 billion, a PE ratio of 13.88, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $93.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

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 issued a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

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.