Kovack Advisors Inc. Sells 8,570 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Kovack Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 35.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 15,335 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,570 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Mn Services Vermogensbeheer B.V. now owns 1,000,899 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,569,000 after buying an additional 22,300 shares during the period. New York Life Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC now owns 344,002 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,221,000 after purchasing an additional 2,278 shares during the period. Apriem Advisors lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.0% during the fourth quarter. Apriem Advisors now owns 11,238 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,118,000 after purchasing an additional 1,632 shares during the period. Allegiance Financial Group Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter worth about $237,000. Finally, Convergence Financial LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Convergence Financial LLC now owns 9,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $951,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares during the period. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on MRK. TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price 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. UBS Group dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 target price (down previously from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total value of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. This trade represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was bought at an average price of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $89.39 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $94.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38. 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 current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. Merck & Co., Inc.’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 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.