United Asset Strategies Inc. Has $10.19 Million Stock Holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 93,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,045 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $10,193,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Imprint Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 11,754 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,300,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. First American Trust FSB grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 29.9% during the 4th quarter. First American Trust FSB now owns 3,547 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,000 after acquiring an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Eads & Heald Wealth Management now owns 4,476 shares of the company’s stock worth $488,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 5.9% in the 4th quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co. now owns 305,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,261,000 after purchasing an additional 16,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Client Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $313,000. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on MRK shares. TheStreet lowered shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “b+” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research note on Friday, April 5th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, Societe Generale downgraded shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $104.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $131.25.

Insider Transactions at Merck & Co., Inc.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.4 %

MRK traded down $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $125.73. 1,659,519 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,321,518. The company has a quick ratio of 1.00, a current ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.89. The business’s 50 day moving average is $126.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.53. Merck & Co., Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $99.14 and a fifty-two week high of $133.10. The stock has a market cap of $318.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 901.36, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 0.38.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by $0.12. Merck & Co., Inc. had a net margin of 0.61% and a return on equity of 9.33%. The company had revenue of $14.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.49 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 8.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 5th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th were issued a dividend of $0.77 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $3.08 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.45%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 2,200.00%.

Merck & Co., Inc. Company Profile

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.