Guardian Partners Inc. Makes New Investment in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 2,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $269,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of MRK. Midwest Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Financial Life Planners purchased a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new position in Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Promus Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. in the 4th quarter worth about $30,000. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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

In other Merck & Co., Inc. news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $88.25 per share, for a total transaction of $250,012.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. The trade was a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 7,085 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $628,864.60. The trade was a 24.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.09% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 4.8 %

Shares of MRK stock traded down $4.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $87.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 20,632,114 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,254,244. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a current ratio of 1.36. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 52-week low of $81.04 and a 52-week high of $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $221.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.06, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $92.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $100.78.

Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $15.62 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.51 billion. Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.03 EPS. Research analysts predict that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Merck & Co., Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be issued a $0.81 dividend. This represents a $3.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is 48.14%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $118.00 to $112.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. TD Securities cut Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $121.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $128.00 to $105.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, TD Cowen cut shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their target price for the company from $121.00 to $100.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $117.12.

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.