Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC Makes New $375,000 Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Wilkins Miller Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,767 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $375,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC acquired a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

MRK has been the topic of several research reports. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $115.00 target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, April 17th. TD Cowen downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $84.00 price target (down previously from $115.00) on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, TD Securities lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $109.19.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

MRK traded down $0.08 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.50. 11,867,802 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,568,652. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.31 and a 52 week high of $134.63. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $81.43 and a 200 day moving average of $91.15. The stock has a market cap of $194.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.52, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.43.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $2.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.06. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 26.67% and a return on equity of 45.35%. The company had revenue of $15.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.59 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.07 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 8th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Merck & Co., Inc.'s payout ratio is currently 47.16%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to buy up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Dalton E. Smart III sold 4,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.76, for a total value of $352,723.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 7,778 shares of the company's stock, valued at $643,707.28. This represents a 35.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.13% of the company's stock.

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.