Proficio Capital Partners LLC Has $107 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 9,584.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,075,549 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,064,443 shares during the quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $106,996,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. now owns 13,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,571,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. Source Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $362,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 15,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,777,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. CGN Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. CGN Advisors LLC now owns 26,969 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Round Rock Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Round Rock Advisors LLC now owns 9,314 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MRK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Daiwa America cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, November 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $110.00 target price (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.39.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Price Performance

MRK stock opened at $90.58 on Friday. 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. has a 52 week low of $81.04 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $94.75 and its 200 day moving average is $103.59. The firm has a market cap of $229.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.46, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS 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 business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. Merck & Co., Inc.’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors 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 3.58%. 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 of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s leadership 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.