Buck Wealth Strategies LLC Has $8.90 Million Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Buck Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 69.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 89,487 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,715 shares during the period. Merck & Co., Inc. makes up approximately 1.8% of Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $8,902,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 12.9% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 16,049,161 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,759,800,000 after purchasing an additional 1,836,505 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,902,509 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,262,000 after buying an additional 35,525 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 16.6% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 63,101 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,211,000 after acquiring an additional 8,985 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 18,807,293 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,135,785,000 after acquiring an additional 514,060 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 3.5% in the third quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 1,837,354 shares of the company’s stock worth $208,649,000 after acquiring an additional 62,047 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 76.07% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Daiwa America cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $115.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE MRK opened at $89.52 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $226.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $99.31 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $107.00. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $87.33 and a 1 year 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.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $1.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.85 by ($0.13). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The business had revenue of $15.62 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.03 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.92%.

About Merck & Co., Inc.

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.