Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Bought by J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 51,505 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,241 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $5,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rakuten Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. RIA Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $30,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 180.2% in the third quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 311 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday. Barclays increased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Berenberg Bank lifted their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $140.00 to $143.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 8th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $125.00 to $135.00 in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $131.25.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Up 0.4 %

MRK stock traded up $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $125.78. 8,377,080 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,316,745. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 12-month low of $99.14 and a 12-month high of $133.10. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $126.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $318.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 898.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 9.33% and a net margin of 0.61%. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.62 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 15th were given a $0.77 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s payout ratio is 2,200.00%.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total transaction of $124,890.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 19,569 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Joseph Romanelli sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.89, for a total value of $124,890.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 19,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,443,972.41. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Steven Mizell sold 50,694 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.65, for a total value of $6,420,395.10. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 23,619 shares in the company, valued at $2,991,346.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.20% of the company’s stock.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

Merck & Co, Inc operates as a healthcare company worldwide. It operates through two segments, Pharmaceutical and Animal Health. The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in the areas of oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes under the Keytruda, Bridion, Adempas, Lagevrio, Belsomra, Simponi, and Januvia brands, as well as vaccine products consisting of preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines under the Gardasil/Gardasil 9, ProQuad, M-M-R II, Varivax, RotaTeq, Live Oral, Vaxneuvance, Pneumovax 23, and Vaqta names.