Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Purchases 4,518 Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE:MRK - Free Report) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 230,718 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,518 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Merck & Co., Inc. were worth $22,952,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Swedbank AB boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 38.6% during the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 7,530,111 shares of the company's stock worth $855,119,000 after acquiring an additional 2,095,694 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 8.9% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,355,950 shares of the company's stock worth $721,782,000 after acquiring an additional 518,270 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 7.6% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 3,071 shares of the company's stock worth $349,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Versor Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. during the third quarter worth $487,000. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Merck & Co., Inc. by 329.4% during the third quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 13,664 shares of the company's stock worth $1,553,000 after acquiring an additional 10,482 shares during the last quarter. 76.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on MRK shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $113.00 to $106.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from $105.00 to $96.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC raised shares of Merck & Co., Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $117.12.

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Merck & Co., Inc. Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of Merck & Co., Inc. stock opened at $94.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.15. Merck & Co., Inc. has a 1 year low of $81.04 and a 1 year high of $134.63. The firm's 50-day moving average is $93.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $102.25. The stock has a market cap of $239.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.06, a PEG ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 0.35.

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). Merck & Co., Inc. had a return on equity of 45.35% and a net margin of 26.67%. 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 previous year, the company earned $0.03 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Merck & Co., Inc. will post 9.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Merck & Co., Inc. Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 7th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Merck & Co., Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is currently 48.14%.

Merck & Co., Inc. declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, January 28th that authorizes the company to repurchase $10.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 4.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Inge G. Thulin purchased 2,833 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 acquisition, the director now owns 2,933 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $258,837.25. This represents a 2,833.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Cristal N. Downing sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.76, for a total transaction of $209,562.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 7,085 shares in the company, valued at $628,864.60. This represents a 24.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.09% of the company's stock.

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.

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