SlateStone Wealth LLC Acquires 1,251 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

SlateStone Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 1.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 113,861 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,251 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up 1.1% of SlateStone Wealth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. SlateStone Wealth LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $11,327,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of MRK. Nicholas Company Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 47.5% in the fourth quarter. Nicholas Company Inc. now owns 663,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,994,000 after buying an additional 213,489 shares in the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,393,000. Facet Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. Facet Wealth Inc. now owns 3,161 shares of the company’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 745 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $309,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 19,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,968,000 after buying an additional 497 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MRK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial restated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK opened at $94.72 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $239.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.07, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $93.57 and a 200 day moving average of $101.88. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $81.04 and a fifty-two week high of $134.63. 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. (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 company had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.03 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 48.14%.

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

Insider Activity at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, 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 price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This trade represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 7,085 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $628,864.60. This trade 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 corporate insiders.

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.