Jones Financial Companies Lllp Raises Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 606,467 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 152,177 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $60,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Darwin Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the third quarter valued at $32,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:MRK opened at $92.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $232.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.70, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12 month low of $81.04 and a 12 month high of $134.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $94.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.37.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced 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 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock 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 an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on MRK shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Daiwa America downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. HSBC upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.39.

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.