IMG Wealth Management Inc. Acquires Shares of 2,010 Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

IMG Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRKFree Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 2,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in MRK. Swedbank AB lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company’s stock worth $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Accredited Investors Inc. now owns 11,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,344,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 28.7% during the 3rd quarter. Spinnaker Investment Group LLC now owns 2,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $312,000 after acquiring an additional 612 shares during the period. Finally, Schear Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 10,582 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,202,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their price objective 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. HSBC upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $110.00 price objective (down from $130.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

View Our Latest Analysis on MRK

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, with a total value of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 2,933 shares in the company, valued at $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $209,562.36. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares in the company, 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 insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. Trading Up 0.0 %

MRK opened at $94.72 on Monday. Merck & Co., Inc. has a twelve month low of $81.04 and a twelve month high of $134.63. The company has a quick ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a fifty day moving average of $93.57 and a 200-day moving average of $101.78. The stock has a market cap of $239.27 billion, a PE ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRKGet Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

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

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Profile

(Free Report)

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.

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Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

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