Silver Oak Securities Incorporated Boosts Stock Position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) by 33.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,022 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 3,002 shares during the quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated’s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $1,183,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in MRK. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC increased its holdings in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.9% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Financial Advisory LLC now owns 5,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $545,000 after acquiring an additional 403 shares in the last quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. by 14.9% during the 4th quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 3,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Adero Partners LLC increased its stake in Merck & Co., Inc. by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Adero Partners LLC now owns 7,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $790,000 after purchasing an additional 1,489 shares in the last quarter. YANKCOM Partnership purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the fourth quarter worth about $1,359,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 82,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,206,000 after buying an additional 772 shares in the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on MRK shares. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $120.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein started 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 for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Leerink Partners decreased their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $136.00 to $119.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $137.00 to $130.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $120.33.

Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Performance

NYSE:MRK opened at $87.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $99.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $107.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.54 billion, a PE ratio of 18.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.38. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $87.33 and a 52-week high of $134.63.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK) last released 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 36.42% and a net margin of 19.23%. The firm had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.51 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.03 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 7.62 EPS for the current year.

Merck & Co., Inc. announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that allows the company to buyback $10.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to purchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.81 per share. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 48.14%.

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.