BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC Has $278,000 Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC lessened its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,795 shares of the company’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. BlueChip Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $278,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allianz SE bought a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,282,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 1,556.0% in the 4th quarter. Transamerica Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $165,000 after purchasing an additional 1,556 shares during the period. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $35,000. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. increased its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 17.3% during the fourth quarter. Beutel Goodman & Co Ltd. now owns 4,041,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,090,000 after buying an additional 595,105 shares during the period. Finally, OneAscent Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.0% during the fourth quarter. OneAscent Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,929 shares of the company’s stock worth $490,000 after buying an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin bought 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was acquired 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 directly owns 2,933 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’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 owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC raised Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $122.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. TD Cowen lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $117.12.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK stock opened at $89.18 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $225.27 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a P/E/G ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50 day moving average of $91.92 and a 200-day moving average of $100.21. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $81.04 and a 12-month high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.03 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.