Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) Shares Purchased by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,477 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,660 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $4,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 114.2% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 802,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $91,205,000 after buying an additional 427,831 shares in the last quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC acquired a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $397,000. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.1% during the third quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 9,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,083,000 after purchasing an additional 1,032 shares in the last quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH lifted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.6% during the third quarter. MEAG MUNICH ERGO Kapitalanlagegesellschaft mbH now owns 776,920 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,227,000 after purchasing an additional 19,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the third quarter. Patriot Investment Management Group Inc. now owns 13,236 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,503,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE MRK opened at $86.52 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $218.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $98.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.34. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $86.27 and a 1 year high of $134.63.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Tuesday, January 28th that permits the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

MRK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target 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. Leerink Partners reduced their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 13th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res upgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group decreased their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Merck & Co., Inc. presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.94.

Insider Buying and Selling at Merck & Co., Inc.

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the purchase, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Merck & Co., Inc. 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.